Where the Prairie Grass Grows
by Fox's Rose
Summary: She never expected to wind up in the States, never expected to wind up with such a dysfunctional group outside of Atlanta, Georgia as she and her brother fled to safety after the world went to hell. She never thought that she would fall in love with a redneck like Daryl Dixon. It didn't help that her brother enjoyed being around the man when she would rather throttle him. Daryl/Oc
1. Intro

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Walking Dead, nor do I own the storyline or the actors... but I DO own my Oc characters and some of the plot that isn't in the TV series.**

**Also, there will be some mature content in this story, as well as some Canadian Terms that some people might not understand so they will be explained at the bottom of the page if they are used, but there won't be too many.**

**I hope you enjoy this new fic and feel free to review or message me your thoughts!**

**~Fox's Rose**

* * *

Breaking through the lake's surface I let out gasp of air, feeling the water bounce due to the waves I created. Water sprayed into the air and landed in my drenched hair as I continued to tread water for a moment, just relishing the early morning's air and the quietness of the camp I had joined just under a month ago with my little brother. The crisp morning air created gooseflesh over my skin as I took in the glorious sunrise, just peeping over top the hills of the valley. This was one of the very few times where I could feel at peace without worrying about the world around me and just enjoy the world as it was.

Sighing quietly to myself, I dove back into the lake and began swimming back to shore, knowing my peace away from the others wouldn't last long. I was often reprimand for going off on my own before dawn broke out, but no one understood that I needed time away from the others, to relax and be myself instead of the hardworking hunter and healer that they knew me to be. The only time I could be myself was when I was around my little brother, the youngest child of our family of eight.

Breaking the surface again for air, I noticed movement coming from the forest that surrounded both the campsite and the lake. My eyes narrowed cautiously as I swam closer to the shore, my trained eyes watching carefully for any signs that the moving being was dangerous or not. The moment my feet touched the sand of the beach, I quickly and cautiously made my way over to my towel and hunting bow. I picked up the bow, my eyes not leaving the moving brush as I drew an arrow, ready to shoot any intruders or offending creatures without a second thought. Leveling the bow and arrow, I listened for any other movements around me while keeping an eye in front of me as the brush was pushed a part, revealing the intruder.

After all, you never know when a Flesh-Doll is going to walk out in front of you and try to eat you.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Walking Dead, nor do I own the storyline or the actors... but I DO own my Oc characters and some of the plot that isn't in the TV series.**

**Also, there will be some mature content in this story, as well as some Canadian Terms that some people might not understand so they will be explained at the bottom of the page if they are used, but there won't be too many.**

**I hope you enjoy and feel free to review or message me your thoughts!**

**~Fox's Rose**

* * *

I'll explain a little; you see a little over two months ago the world went to hell, literally. Actually, I'm not sure how it all started or when since I had been out with my youngest brother camping; a tradition we started when he was five years old and I was twenty-three. Every year I took my brother out for two weeks near the end of summer or the beginning of fall, just the two of us and we would spend much needed time together until he had to return for school and I had to return to work.

Our family lived out on a farm in the middle of nowhere up in Saskatchewan, Canada. In total, I had five younger siblings, all of whom I watched and help take care of until I had to leave for university when my youngest brother was born. My father was a skilled hunter and a good farmer; he taught my siblings and me how to hunt, track, skin our kills, cover our tracks, and how to live off the land. My mother was a herbalist and a stay-at-home-mom; she taught my siblings and I how to make ointments from the herbs that grew in the land, identify different plants at first glimpse, knot, sew, mend, different ways to prepare a meal without a stove, and different tricks on how to conserve water when low on food and other necessities. My parents were extremely keen on teaching us how to survive in the wilderness in case something happened in the world.

When I was younger, I never believed that their lessons would come in handy and that the world would never turn sour, but I was wrong and I was grateful now for their lessons. Especially since they have saved my ass and my little brother's ass many times since the breakout started. Though, I could never admit it to my family. If you're wondering where my parents and my other siblings were, they're dead.

Before a month ago, I would have never turned my gun onto my own family, but at the time I had no choice. When my brother and I returned to the city, where we celebrated a family gathering at our grandparent's house, we went inside to greet everyone only to find our siblings gnawing on our deceased grandparents. The moans, groans, snarls and grunts that came from our siblings caused my stomach to drop and the moisture to flee from my mouth. In horror I stared at my siblings before catching my youngest brother before he could run to them. I covered his mouth before he could speak and hid him behind my back, pressing his head into my back as I slowly drew a 9mm hand gun that I carried with me. As I looked at my siblings, I took notice that their flesh was flaked with some of it missing and its colour had taken a greyish tone.

Behind me, I could feel my brother's hand gripping the back of my tank top as I struggled internally on what actions I should take. In the end, I decided it would be safer for my brother and me to back out of the house. I started backing out of the house, forcing my brother to do the same until he tripped over an empty bottle that was on the ground, causing it to start rolling and giving away our presence. Silence had followed the sound of the rolling bottle as our siblings turned around to face us. Blood dripped from their chins and unfinished, chewed flesh hung from their teeth. Dead pale eyes locked on us as they stood up, their movements jerky and forced as if they had no mind of their own anymore.

I heard my brother whimper a bit causing me to realize that the figures in front of us were not our siblings any longer. They were soulless clumps of flesh, living off basic instincts and my instincts were telling me to keep my brother and me safe from them. Taking the safety off, I cocked my gun, pointing it at my siblings as I stood in front of them, easing my brother and I out slowly while the lifeless beings began lumbering towards us. The groaning and moans coming from the beings put me on edge as I quickly looked around to find a solution to get ourselves out of this mess. We were almost at the door when my brother out a gasp.

Spinning around, I didn't even think about shooting until the body dropped to the ground. My stomach churned at the sight of my mangled father's body now lying on the ground in lump of dead flesh. Turning around, I quickly put down our siblings in the same manor, a single bullet through the head. Our father taught us to always aim for the head when we want to make our kill, especially if the predator was coming at you head on. Around us, the bodies of our siblings dropped to the ground unmoving. My brother and I stayed still for a moment while I listened for any other sounds coming from the house. Once I was sure there was nothing else inside, I gently pulled my brother with me towards the kitchen before telling him to grab a few pillow cases from the hallway so we could take what we needed from the house.

Once my brother set off to gather the pillow cases, I looked through the cupboards, taking out some food that my brother and I could use while we traveled back to our families farm and find out what exactly was going on. When my brother returned, he helped me pack the food into the bags, along with a few other items that I would need in case either he or myself became injured. I knew my brother was in shock still, which was why he hadn't broken down crying; hell, I was still in shock from the experience, but I couldn't break down when my brother and I weren't safe.

For the next hour my brother and I drove in silence, the only sounds we heard were the roar of the jeep's engine and the crackling radio as it broadcasted information about the epidemic which swept the world. Apparently it had started two weeks ago, during the time that my brother and I were out camping. The entire world was infected it this 'virus' as the governments were calling it, but no one could say how it manifested or how it came to be. It was a repeated message though and I couldn't help but wonder if it meant in reality. The moment my brother and I reached our desolate farm home was when I truly understood that my brother and I were the last remaining members of our family.

Sitting there, in my now quiet jeep, everything came crashing down on me. My body shook as I thought about the dead bodies of my family, the way I shot them without thinking through the eyes. The unnatural growls, the feral snarls and groans still brought an unwanted shiver down my spine as I thought about their greyish skin and their animalistic gazes. Smells hit me next as I recalled the stench of rotten flesh which clung to my grandparents house. I didn't realize it before since I had been so terrified at what I was seeing that nothing else had registered. My stomach turned at these thoughts and I quickly opened the driver's door and stumbled out as my stomach brought up everything I had eaten that day.

I was kneeling on the ground, spitting the rest of my previous meal out of my mouth when I felt two arms wrap themselves around my neck as a body leaned against me, hugging me tightly against them. I raised a hand and grasped my brother's hands, pressing them against my chest in a silent promise. A promise where I would always be there to protect him and make sure that he lived through this nightmare in order to see the light at the end.

For one month my brother and I lived at our farm, wondering if there were any other survivors besides us. We began calling the walking dead Flesh-Dolls, since that was what they looked liked. Dead flesh and bodies which were moving as if led by a string. It unnerved me to take everything in, but as the month passed, I knew that my brother and I had a better chance of survival if we moved out. Every night while I took watch, I noticed more and more Flesh-Dolls near our fields and each night I grew wearier of staying in the middle of nowhere. It was early morning when I told my brother of the plans to move south, to see if there were any other survivors. My brother agreed, though he was reluctant to leave our family home just as much as I was, but he realized that we weren't as safe as he first assumed we were.

We packed my dark green Jeep Patriot up with the rest of our provisions, medical supplies, water, hunting gear, extra gas and clothes. Since I didn't know what to expect, I had my brother pack clothes from our older siblings and father. I myself, took left over clothing from my brothers and father since I knew they would at least fit and keep me warm when the nights grew cold. Since our camping gear was still in the jeep, I didn't bother moving it and only packed a few extra blankets as well as some herbal remedies that our mother made for washing. As my brother packed the jeep, I went through our father's armory and decided to clean it out, just in case we needed them in the future. Along with the guns and ammunition, I made sure to take all of the arrows that I would need for my hunting bow as well as my brother's.

Once we were fully packed and ready, my brother and I stood side by side in front of our home. We said a silent goodbye and a silent prayer for any survivors who stumbled upon our home to make use of it like we had. We had also placed a note inside for any survivors, letting them know where everything was and that we prayed for their safety. Getting into my jeep, my brother and I left the farm without looking back. We knew that we could only survive if we moved on and if by some stroke of luck there were other survivors out there that we may band together for a better chance of survival.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Walking Dead, nor do I own the storyline or the actors... but I DO own my Oc characters and some of the plot that isn't in the TV series.**

**Also, there will be some mature content in this story, as well as some Canadian Terms that some people might not understand so they will be explained at the bottom of the page if they are used, but there won't be too many.**

**I hope you enjoy and feel free to review or message me your thoughts!**

**~Fox's Rose**

* * *

We met the people at the quarry a week in a half later after my brother and I passed through the abandoned checkpoint between the US and Canada. At first it was a hostile greeting due to the fact that we found tire marks and followed them to the campsite. We were greeted with a shotgun to our faces before the self dubbed leader, an obnoxious man named Shane Welsh, demanded to know who we were and what our business was. If it weren't for the woman named Lori Grimes, we probably would have been Flesh-Doll food. In the end, thanks to Lori, my brother and I were greeted as members of the camp, we were especially greeted when the others found out that I was able to hunt and knew how heal wounds.

Within the first few days of being at the quarry, my brother and I met the other survivors and families that created the group. There was Lori Grimes and her son Carl, Shane Walsh, Jim, Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, Jacqui, Andrea and Amy, Carol, Sophia and Ed Peletier, Morales and his family, and a few other people who I didn't quite catch the names of. There was, however, one family that had caught my interest; the Dixon brothers. Merle and Daryl Dixon were the definition of what a redneck was supposed to be.

Merle Dixon was a man who I did not get along well with, well to be exact, I didn't get along with the brothers period. There were times when I would butt heads with the youngest brother about which of our catch was best, other times the younger brother and I had a sort of begrudgingly mutual respect for one another because of our hunting skills. The only other person I butt heads with was Shane Walsh, the idiot who had almost shot me when my brother and I first arrived. The reason why he and I clashed in personalities was due to the fact that I didn't take kindly to his dominating attitude or his unrealistic commands, I also mouthed back at him when I found him be to utterly infuriating. It also didn't help that I had punched both Shane and Merle in the jaws for trying to get either too friendly with me or my brother.

Otherwise, I spent most of my time around the quarry, getting to know everyone else and helping out with the chores while playing the role of a healer whenever a child or adult got cut or sick. I found peace with the way life seemed to settle with my brother and I, we found a sense of acceptance with the group and fell into a comfortable routine. Now, a month later, my brother and I were comfortable with our lives. We shared some of our provisions with the group, but we mostly kept our provisions to ourselves since most of our stuff was ingredients that I needed for ointments and medicine. We also kept the arsenal in the jeep a secret from the others, knowing that they would waste no time in taking over the jeep to get at the weapons.

Water dripped down the back of my neck as I knelt on the rock based beach, the uneven rock clusters bit into my bare skin as the black shorts that I wore rose up my thighs. The dark blue tank top I wore clung to my upper body as I waited for something or someone to appear from the woods that surrounded the quarry. Just as I was ready to lay my bow down, someone trudged out of the bushes. I released my arrow from my bow, watching it soar through the air, whistling before embedding itself into a tree next to the persons face, just as I knotted another arrow onto my bow string to fire.

"Fuck! What the hell is wrong with you?" An irritated male voice shouted at me as I rose to my feet cautiously, "The hell is with you always shooting things at me anyway ya crazy Canuck." The voice spat at me while digging my arrow from the tree next to him as I lowered my bow with a disgruntled scowl.

"The hell is with you sneaking up on an armed gal like that Dixon Junior?" I scowled at the figure that started sauntering over to me, holding his crossbow over his shoulder with a scowl, "What are you doing out here anyways? I thought you were heading out early to get some hunting done." I stated a little confused as to why Daryl Dixon of all people had to come out during my time of peace and quiet.

Standing in front of me, Daryl stood about two inches taller than me with brown, matted hair, lightly tanned skin and as usual, narrowed green eyes from glaring at everyone. Without a word, he handed me the arrow I shot at him, his green eyes burrowing into my light grey ones as I quickly snatched the arrow from his hand. I took a quick look at it, making sure it was still in good shape before slowly placing it back into its quiver with the rest of my arrows. I heard Daryl spit onto the ground as I finally relaxed myself and grabbed the towel I left to dry myself off while waiting for his reply.

"What's it to ya if I'm gunna hunt or not?" he asked sourly as I began to dry my hair. I merely rolled my eyes at him, as he watched me dry off, "The old man told me ta getcha, since I was the only other one awake. Told me ya been from camp too long since ya left, said ya would be 'round here."

I looked over at him in silence as he shuffled around a bit, causing me to sigh a little as I rested the towel around my shoulders, "Alright, I was told, you can leave now you know." I told him quietly. This was the most I talked civilly with the younger Dixon brother since my brother and I arrived and I couldn't help but think how different the two brothers actually were when they weren't around each other, "I'll head back as soon as I'm done drying off." I said offhandedly before letting an arrogant smirk grace my face, "I expect something good this time around Dixon."

I heard the man scoff at my jab while pulling on a black and white checkered buttoned up shirt, "Like ya one ta talk Snow Monkey, I haven't seen you bring anything decent around yet." He shot back at me heatedly before trudging back into the brush, grumbling under his breath the entire time.

I sighed to myself and ran a hand through my long, tangled auburn red hair before pulling on my dark brown hiking boots and socks once my feet were dry. I then attached my quiver to my back and settled my bow on there as well before making my way back to camp. The closer I got to camp, the brighter it became as the sun fully rose above the hills. As I crossed the tree line into camp, I heard the movement of the others as they started their day.

"Jo, there you are m'dear!" an elderly man named Dale called from his post on top of his RV, "I was wondering where went to." He gave me a smile as I raised a hand in greeting.

"I went to the same place as I normally went to Dale; there was no reason to send that redneck down." I stated with a roll of my eyes, but smiled back at him none the less. Dale gave me a confused look, furrowing his greying brows a bit, which caused me to stop in confusion as the smile left my face in realization.

"I didn't send Daryl to getcha Jo; I didn't even know you were down at the lake." He told me as my brows now furrowed in confusion, "He was the one who asked where you went to. Apparently he saw you heading out of your tent before dawn this morning. I told him that you usually did, but I didn't know why."

"Huh... well... thanks Dale..." I said uncertainly, wondering why, out of everyone Daryl was the one who noticed my habit, "I'm heading back to my tent, send anyone over who needs my expertise before I leave." I gave him a wave as I made my way over to the tent that I shared with my brother.

Unzipping the flap to our tent, I walked over to my bedspread and sat down on top of my sleeping bag, taking off my boots before changing my clothes. I noticed that my brother was still asleep across from me and I couldn't help but smile a little at how peaceful he was looking. Changing into a white tank top and a pair of light blue jeans, I felt somewhat refreshed after my dip in the lake. I pulled my hair back into a braid, tying it back with one of my hair elastics before slipping some fresh socks on before pulling my boots back on. Leaning over, I gently began to shake my brother's shoulder, watching as his face scrunched up in distaste.

"Come on Benjie, it's time to get up hun." I cooed as my brother tried to roll away from me. This always seemed to happen whenever I had to wake my brother up, "Come on slacker, I promised I'd take you out for some hunting practice today." I urged and lightly shoved his shoulder a bit to help him wake up.

The reminder of hunting practice seemed to wake him up, before I knew it, he was tripping over himself trying to get dressed. His sky blue eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree as he pulled on his clothes. I merely smiled at him, telling him that I would be at our jeep to get some small packs ready in case we were gone all day. Watching as he nodded his head, I left our tent, picking up my bow and quiver and put them over my back as I made my way to my jeep. I took a moment to pause a bit as I popped the hatch to the hood, grabbing a few bottles of water to stuff into a bag along with some of our provisions that we still had left over.

I closed my eyes as I looked over our stuff, I grabbed my dad's old hunting jacket, remembering the times he wore it whenever he and I went hunting together. Closing my eyes I placed the jacket back in its place and slammed the trunk closed as I shouldered the bag and turned around, only to be greeted by T-Dog, one of the people that I managed to along with. I gave the large black man a lazy smile as leaned back against the jeep, crossing my arms over my chest as I remembered that he was going into town with a few others to get some supplies.

"Here to say goodbye big guy?" I asked curiously as the man gave me a knowing smile. I had been asked to go along on their trip, but declined since I had promised my brother that we would go on this outing together. Besides Merle Dixon was heading with the group and I knew better than to associate myself with the redneck in a place with Flesh-Dolls roaming around.

"Yeah, we'll be heading out in a bit." He said awkwardly, which caused me to laugh a bit. Over the past month, I spent most of my time tending to the wounds that were sustained thanks to Merle Dixon's racist ways. One of the victims was T-Dog. Standing up straight, I gently patted T-Dog's cheek, giving him a smile.

"Hey, don't give me that look big guy. Just make sure you come back alive so I can treat your wounds kay?" I said, giving him a cheeky grin, "Oh, and try not to piss off the redneck yeah? I don't need a line up for treatment." I gave him a teasing wink before patting his shoulder as I passed him, "I'm off to hunt wabbits with the kid." I teased and smiled as he let out a laugh.

"Take care of yourself Jojo; don't stab yourself with an arrow now. You're the best healer we got." He teased back and I raised a hand, acknowledging that I heard him as I met up with my brother, who had his hunting bow strapped to his back.

"I'm the only one you got T, but I'll see you guys later..." I paused in what I was saying a bit as I headed towards my brother, "I'll see you guys alive." I called to him before wrapping an arm around my brother's shoulders as we passed by Dale's RV, "Dale, we're heading out, we'll be back before sunset." I called up to him.

"Alright Jo, you two stay safe now." He replied as I nodded my head before steering my brother and I out of the camp again. This time though, we stuck to the forest, heading deep into the woods so we could continue on with our family tradition.

* * *

**Terms**

**Canuck - **A term for a Canadian, meant to be derogatory, but isn't usually unless you are from Quebec. Canadians often use this terms themselves


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Walking Dead, nor do I own the storyline or the actors... but I DO own my Oc characters and some of the plot that isn't in the TV series.**

**Also, there will be some mature content in this story, as well as some Canadian Terms that some people might not understand so they will be explained at the bottom of the page if they are used, but there won't be too many.**

**I hope you enjoy and feel free to review or message me your thoughts!**

**~Fox's Rose**

* * *

When my brother and I returned to camp, the sun was high in the sky, but was starting to fall towards the west, telling me that it was way past noon and most likely close to dinner time. Stretching my arms out behind me, I couldn't help but think over my day with my brother. Benjamin had a lucky time while we hunted and between the two of us, we actually caught quite a bit of small prey to cook up and share amongst the group.

"Hey sis, can we do this again soon?" he asked me curiously as he looked up at me with pleading blue eyes. I smiled at him as I pushed his shaggy auburn hair away from his face. He looked so much like his brother and our father every single day that it hurt sometimes to look at him in the eye.

"Sure sweetie, we'll make a day to go out and hunt again." I told him softly while ruffling his hair as we entered the camp. The moment we entered though, I felt myself frown at the worried looks that a few of the survivors had on their faces. This made me realize that the group that went to the city weren't back yet and because of that, I had a feeling that my medical expertise would be needed by the time they all returned. If they returned at all that was.

I sent my brother off to clean up our arrows while I took our kills over to the cooks for the night. After I dropped the food off, I headed over to Dale to see what had happened while my brother and I were away. The moment I stepped onto the roof of the RV, I saw bring down his binoculars, casting a worried look at the horizon as he let out a sigh. Making my way over to the older man, I sat down next to him in the empty chair and rested my elbows on top of my knees before speaking.

"How long has Amy been pacing for?" I asked him quietly, knowing that he was worried as well about the group. I sat down next to the older man and brought out a crossword puzzle book that I brought with me to keep me amused when there was nothing for me to do.

"Too long if you ask me Jo, but I don't blame her for worrying, those guys should have been back hours ago. Actually, we heard from them just a while ago before returned," he said quietly before continuing, "said they were trapped in the department store. Shane said that they were gone... said nothing we can do for 'em..." He confined to me as I nodded my head in understanding, but my lips were set in a thin line, "How did the hunting go kiddo?" he asked, changing the subject to something that would keep his mind off his worry.

"It went well; Ben's really getting the hang of hunting with a bow. We'll be good on meat for today at least." I couldn't help but muse a bit as I looked towards the horizon. My calm facade faded as I looked into the horizon, noticing that the sun was going to set soon, "I hope they come back alright... even if it is Merle Dixon among them..." I murmured quietly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked over at Dale, noticing his kind smile as he turned to the horizon as well. I'm not sure how long Dale and I sat on top of his RV, waiting for any sign of our comrades, but the later it got, the more nervous I started to become. In order to keep myself sane, I left Dale on his RV and headed towards my tent and pulled out my medical kit and checked to make sure it had everything I would need in case someone was injured. After feeling satisfied that everything was in order, I walked out of my tent just as a loud, obnoxious sound echoed through the valley. It sounded like a car alarm and I rushed over to the RV with everyone else after slipping the pack around my waist.

Next to me, my brother clasped his arms around my waist as Shane demanded Dale to tell him what the noise was. Looking through his binoculars, Dale wasn't able to see anything as my brother and I headed towards the RV. The next thing I knew, Dale was grinning like a monkey at what he saw. It was at this time that I took my eyes off the older man and looked towards the slope of the valley where the road was. Squinting slightly, I couldn't help but find myself starting to relax as a sleek, red sports car barreled down towards us, its alarm blaring for the world to see.

Excitement bubbled up among the group as everyone surrounded the area to greet the group back. The only one who wasn't excited was Shane, who was frowning in irritation. In the past month, I realized how his mind worked, which created a larger gap between us. He was willing to sacrifice anyone if it meant keeping himself alive, despite the fact that we agreed, as a group to look out for one another. I watched Shane from the corner of my eye as the red car parked itself behind one of the cars in the quarry. I was actually feeling a bit anxious, wondering who was inside when out stepped Glenn, our usually runner into the city.

No one else exited the car, which created a sense of worry among the group as Glenn came around to the group, a large smile on his face, which quickly diminished as Shane walked over to him, demanding that he turned the alarm off. Dale stated that they were safe since the noise echoed through the valley so no one else could actually pinpoint the sound, but from the look on the older man's face, Shane had immediately shot the idea down. With a bit of effort, Glenn popped the hood where Jim, the mechanic of the bunch took the wire of the alarm and unplugged it from the battery, causing the quarry to buzz into silence once more.

That was when the questions began pouring out of everyone's mouths. As Glenn raised his hands into the air, no doubt feeling the pressure of everyone's questions, he made it clear that everyone was safe, well everyone except for Merle Dixon. Before Glenn could say anything, a delivery truck rolled down the valley and it was as if wave of relief washed over the entire camp. It was if everything was moving in slow motion as our fellow survivors exited the truck. Family members gathered around the group, pulling them into warm hugs. My brother and I ran over to both Glenn and T-Dog, hugging both of them tightly in relief.

As I pulled back from T-Dog, I couldn't help but give him a mock glare as I rested my hands on my hips. I took in his composure and noticed that his arm had been damaged and that there was some bruising around his face. When I looked around at the others, I noticed that the guys all had some bruising on them. The only logical thing that came to mind was that they got into a fight with Dixon Senior.

"I'm glad you guys are safe." I told him softly with a smile before heading over to Morales and his family. Ben was already over there talking with them when I reached them. The moment Morales saw me, he gave me a smile which I returned before nodding my head, silently telling him that I was happy to see him again.

"If it weren't for the new guy, we wouldn't have made it." Glenn said smiling as stood awkwardly at the car.

When others questioned about whom the new guy was, Morales looked backwards towards the truck, "Hey helicopter boy, come say hello." He called and everyone looked towards the truck.

A male in his mid forties stepped out of the truck wearing a sheriff's uniform. He looked around awkwardly as he ran a hand through his dark hair. It was as if someone upstairs was giving us a ray of light as the man looked up at the group and I couldn't help but reminded of a guardian angel as the man's eyes focused on Lori and Carl. The next moment that anyone knew, the new guy ran towards the two as Carl did the same thing and when the two collided, the man had Carl wrapped in his arms, kneeling on the ground as he hugged his son as if he was the last person on earth.

I felt a hand grabbing my own causing me to look down at my brother who was looking up at me. Smiling down at him, I wrapped an arm around his shoulders as I squatted down, pulling my brother into a hug and kissed his temple, holding him tightly to me. Everyone felt a sense of serenity as they looked at the now reunited Grimes family. Something told me that this was going to be a new beginning for everyone. Yet when I looked over at everyone, there was one person who looked like this was the end and that was Shane. Once the new guy, Rick Grimes and everyone else had settled down, I got to work with patching others up.

"Alright, now that everyone's settled, all those injured can come with me. It doesn't matter if it's just a scratch, come over here." I called over the group causing them to pause what they were doing. I raised an eyebrow at them, daring them to say no. I took my role seriously as their healer and I knew that they came out of the city with some scratches, "Seriously, don't make me drag you lot over here." I stated rather coldly as my eyes narrowed over at Shane who was going to open his mouth, "Medical attention and checkups are mandatory after being gone for so long in the city. That was my one condition, remember Shane."

The first two to walk over to where I set up shop near the brush was T-Dog and Glenn; the latter knew all too well that I was a woman of my word. I had literally dragged Glenn by his ear when he refused to let me give him a check up. Once one of them was sitting down in front of me, I began checking for wounds. In the end T-Dog had a sprained wrist, which I easily bandaged up and a few scratches while Glenn had just a few scratches. I cleaned those and put some ointment over them before looking at the others who were waiting in line. As I checked everyone over, everyone else got back to work, no doubt wondering what Rick Grimes' story was.

Rick was the last person I tended to and it probably was the best that he was last, for the wound on his side was still healing. With his shirt off, I was inspecting the wound carefully, my eyes not trailing away from my work as I gently cleaned it. Through my interactions with the others, I had light conversation with them, but with Rick, he and I were silent as the actual dead. I knew he had questions for me, but I wasn't sure why he wasn't asking them. Before I could ask him, he finally spoke up.

"I briefly met everyone else, but I think they failed to mention who you were." He said quietly as I looked up from his side. His statement was genuine and I could tell that he was curious. I couldn't help but smile at that as I sat up fully so I could grab the bandages in my kit.

"I'm Jo Teague." I told him softly as I began to bandage his side, "You see that boy talking with yours over there?" I nodded over to where my brother was, "That's my lil brother, Ben."

"You got a bit of an accent there Jo, where ya from?" he asked me, causing me to chuckle a bit as I tied the bandage together in a knot and looked over at the two boys, "That's your brother? He looks more like your son." He stated in a confused voice causing me to chuckle again.

"You probably wouldn't believe me, but we're from Canada." Rick's eyes widen in surprise after I told him where we were from, "It was my decision to head down here, my brother and I were the only surviving members of our family left and we knew we couldn't stay at our farm for a long." I told him gently as I began to pack my stuff away, "I know it's hard to believe, but there's eighteen years difference between him and I. He's the youngest of six and I'm the oldest of six." I explained a little before lightly patting his shoulder, "I'll explain better one day, but for now, I think you should go spent time with your wife and son, Rick. Oh, and just so you know, I think you're a blessing to us all." I said while grabbing my kit and headed back to my tent.


	5. Chapter 4

Later that night we were all crowded around a fire. Most had pulled on a sweater for the cool night, but my brother and I were merely wearing buttoned up plaid tops with the sleeves still rolled up. I was leaning against a long next to T-Dog and Glenn, both whom were sitting on top of it with my brother resting his head on top of my stomach. Our catch today had gone over well, despite the uncertain looks we gained from Rick. In the end, Rick began telling us what happened to him before he came to us. As I listened to Rick, I ran a hand a hand through my brother's hair before kissing his forehead.

A crackle from the fire next to us caused everyone to look over at the Peletier's fire to see that Ed had put on another log. We did have rules about keeping our fires low, just enough to give off some heat without alerting walkers. The family of three never joined us and always kept to themselves, but that was also because Ed was an abusive ass. I usually saw Carol with bruises on her face and wrists, but no matter how many times I tried to treat her, she would never let me. As Shane told Ed to rethink about the log, Ed replied, rather bitterly about Shane keeping to himself. This went on for a moment until Shane stood up, irritated. When Shane returned, Dale brought up the topic of Daryl and who was going to tell him about his brother.

T-Dog stated first that because he dropped the key, that it was one him until Rick interrupted saying that he was the one who cuffed the redneck in the first place. Glenn then joined the conversation by saying that it wasn't a competition, which I agreed with, even though I didn't know the full details about what happened. Glenn then stated that it would sound better coming from a white guy. In a sense he was right since both the Dixon brothers were racists, but I noticed that Daryl was less of a blockhead than his brother. T-Dog then stated that he left Merle alive and that he did what he did. This was when Amy piped up saying that we could always lie when Andrea said that we could always tell the truth by saying that Merle had been out of control and that something had to be done or else he would have gotten them all killed. She then turned to Lori and told her that Rick had done what needed to be done and that if Merle got left behind then it was Merle's fault, no one else's.

Dale gave Andrea an uncertain look at this and even I thought that was a horrible idea as Dale stated that he couldn't see a rational discussion to be had. Looking around a bit he looked at the group, making eye contact with me as he stated that we were going to have our hands full once Daryl got back from his hunt the next day. Silence erupted around the fire then before T-Dog quietly said that he had been scared and ran and that he wasn't ashamed of it, to which Andrea spoke up saying that they all were scared and ran. T-Dog then stated that he had stopped long enough to chain the door to the roof and that the stairwell was narrow and that not many of the Flesh-Dolls, or Walkers as the group called them, could get in there and that it wouldn't be enough for them to break through the door, the chain or the padlock. His point was that Dixon was alive and still up on the roof, cuffed up, which was on them. He then stood up and headed to his tent as silence enveloped around the group once more. Letting out a small sigh, I sat up from my spot and looked at them a bit.

"Look, if you're going to talk with Dixon Junior about this and tell him what's what, I suggest keeping yourself alert. At the best of times, Daryl will strike without warning and his temper tantrums can be just as bad as Merle's." I stated quietly as the group looked over at me, "Just remember that unlike Merle, Daryl can be rationalized with if you go about it the right way. Sometimes you just need ta use force to get him to see that reason." With that, I gently picked up my brother and headed towards our tent. I took my brother's boots off before settling him in his sleeping bag and watched him as he curled up a bit, his hand clutching a small toy that I had gotten him when he was born and never went to bed without. Kissing his forehead once more, I grabbed my bow and quiver before heading over to the RV; I had first watch that night.

When the light of day shone on the camp, I was already up and stoking a fire to boil some water. I was feeling like some hot water and peppermint that morning for some reason, it was an odd craving I had whenever I was away from home for too long. As I stirred the small container of water a bit, I grabbed a few peppermint leaves before dropping them inside. I continued to stir a bit more until the scent of peppermint began to tickle my nose. I sat back on the log, adjusting my bow a little before brushing my hands over quiver which I tied to my belt. I heard footsteps stumbling over towards me and I couldn't help but smile a bit as my brother plopped down beside me, letting out a loud yawn while rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them.

"Morning sunshine," I cooed teasingly as I scooped the peppermint water from the container into a cup and handed it out to him, "drink up, but be careful, it's hot." I stirred the water some more as my brother slouched next to me, with a look of content on his face as he blew on his cup. I knew my brother didn't like the peppermint taste strong like I did, so I always made him a cup while it was still brewing.

"What's that smell Jo? Are you cooking again?" Dale asked with a teasing smile as he walked over to us. Laughing a bit, I poured some of the water into a cup for him as well as he sat down across from us.

"No, just some good ol' hot water and peppermint leaves." I said before scooping some up for myself, "Our mother used to make it for us during the fall mornings before she started teaching us. She always said that it was good the soul and the mind." I looked down at my cup with a small smile as I stared at the peppermint leaf, "It was one of her favorite drinks, peppermint and water..." I whispered softly.

Dale gave me a look of understanding as he nodded his head, "Thanks Jo," he said softly before becoming serious, "about last night..." he trailed off a bit as I looked up at him, the smile on my face was gone as I thought about the conversation, "will you be around to help deal with Daryl? I know you two kids don't normally get along, but I think you can actually get through to him if... well you know..." he shrugged a bit and I caught on to what he was getting at.

"Yeah, I'll be around Dale, don't worry. If worse comes to worse I'll step in if I have to." I told him as he nodded his head in understanding.

"Thanks Jo, I knew I could count on you for this." He said softly while standing up, cup still in hand, "And thanks again for the water and peppermint. It's been a while since I've had something nice like this." He smiled at my brother and me before heading back to his RV where he went to keep watch.

"We're a part of a crazy group Ben..." I sighed as I looked over at my brother before giving him a teasing grin, "what do you say we distribute the rest of this to the kids and see how everyone's holding up eh?" I asked as I took a sip of my water and smiled at the taste of the mint leaves. In the end, we were able to share our drink with those of the camp.

When Rick came out of his tent, I was watching next to Glenn as Dale, Morales and Jim took a part the red sports car he arrived in the day before. Rick came up to Glenn's other side as the Asian man sulked, "Look at them... vultures..." he sulked as I rolled my eyes at the man.

"He's been like this ever since they decided it was more useful for parts." I piped up while casting a side glance over at Rick, who was looked over at me in silent amusement. I shrugged my shoulders a bit as I patted Glenn's shoulder before turning around to see what my brother was up to, "If you have time Rick, I'd like to check your side again. Make sure it's clean and all ya know?" I stated before giving the pair a two finger salute before turning back towards my tent so I could get my hunting satchel.

I was feeling restless that day and I knew a good hunt would wind me down before I got trigger happy. Just as I passed the tents to the main area, I saw Shane pull up in his jeep. He had gone down to get water for the camp to use to either cook with, drink or to wash with. As people gathered around to get some water, I decided to wait until everyone had their fill before grabbing some for my brother and me. Just as I was going to head over I heard a familiar scream from Sophia as Carl's called for his mom and dad.

"Jo!" I heard my brother call me as I rushed with the others to where the boys were. We passed by Jacqui who had been with the kids, and ushering them away from the sight as I ran past her, knowing that my brother was carrying his hunting knife.

As the group and I entered a small clearing, we saw what the ruckus was about. There in the center of the clearing, paying no attention to anyone was a Walker eating into a very nice deer which had two arrows sticking out of it. Behind the Walker was Ben, holding onto his knife as if his life depended on it, though, I saw that he was shaking a little from his spot. Slowing down, I reached my brother and lightly touched his shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise before relaxing when he saw me and the others.

"Jo... we..." my brother tried to speak as I pulled him me, checking him over to any scratches. Once I knew he was clean, I pulled him to me, kissing his temple softly before pushing him behind me. I pulled an arrow out from my quiver and knotted it into my bow as I aimed it at the Walker. The Walker stood up and turned around after smelling us and went right after Rick, who swung down his iron bar into the Walker's body.

Then the others just began beating it, seemingly forgetting that they had to aim for the head. With the guys getting in my way, I wasn't able to properly shoot the damned thing. Yet as I watched our group of males, I couldn't help but compare them to a pack of wild, starving animals. The thought disturbed me as the group finally settled down after Dale chopped the things head off. Readying my arrow again, I aimed it at the Walker's head, which would start to animate again soon enough.

"This is the first one we've had up here..." Dale stated as he shook his head a bit, "They never come this far up the mountain..." at that, he looked over at Shane, who was looking at the Walker's body in surprise and a bit of disgust.

"Well they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim stated as he looked around at everyone. I couldn't help but scowl at the corpse as the guys continued to stand around the two corpses. Suddenly the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs caused the entire group to tense up as they readied their weapons for another attack.


	6. Chapter 5

I started scowling at this time since I could start to see the Walker's head start to slowly move as the guys looked around the brush, trying to pinpoint the source of noise. They didn't know how to track though, so they were completely lost as to what they were doing while my eyes traveled to rocks, where the footsteps were originating from, forgetting that Daryl was still out and about.

"Son of a bitch..." Those were the first words I heard from the redneck as the guys merely sighed and rolled their eyes out of irritation rather than relief. A few moments later, Daryl appeared wielding his crossbow, "that's my deer." He complained as he saw what became of his latest kill, though I didn't blame him, it was a good size and would have made for a good meal that night, "Look at it... all gnawed on..." he walked over to the body of the Walker as he started kicking it to his next words, "by this filthy, disease bearing motherless proxy bastard." He gritted out.

I rolled my eyes again as I silently motioned for Ben to head back to camp. He gave me a pair of pleading eyes, but I shook my head and nodded towards camp. Once he was gone, I looked back over at Daryl as I lightly relaxed my grip on my bow string; though the thing was still drawn and aimed at the head. The moment that Dale decided to tell Daryl that it wasn't healthy to unleash in anger out on a corpse, I knew things weren't going to go as smoothly as I watched as Daryl stalk up to the older man, no doubt planning on getting into his face when Shane held him off with his gun.

Daryl was furious as he snapped that Dale didn't know what it was like and that he should go back to the pond. Turning around again, he walked over to the deer while stating how he had been tracking the deer for miles before dragging it back to camp while pulling out his arrows. I couldn't help but snort quietly to myself causing Daryl to give me a pointed look as he took out his hunting knife and circled around the bit. He then asked that we could cut around the chewed up part there so we could cook up some venison. Shane sighed a bit and stated that he wouldn't risk it causing Daryl to sigh in disappointment, not that I blamed the guy.

"That's a damn shame; I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He stated, though the look he gave Shane was one I had given the man myself, a non-amused look. Just as Daryl was about the turn away, the head started moving. I heard sounds of disgust as I looked down at the corpse and scowled, "What the hell people..." Daryl muttered as he readied his crossbow, only to have me beat him with my arrow going through the corpse's skull. Looking over at me with a furrowed look, Daryl pressed his foot against the head and pulled my arrow out before looking at the others, "it has to be the brain... don't you know nothing? Even the fucking Canuck knows better." He stated blandly before heading back to camp, tossing me the arrow as he passed.

Catching the arrow easily, I wiped it off on a black handkerchief that I always carried with me for cleaning my arrows. Looking over at the others, I shrugged my shoulders as I followed behind the younger Dixon, cleaning off my arrow before putting it into my quiver, "He's right ya know," I stated, "you guys have to aim for the head. You seem to think they're human still." With that I kept quiet again as the guys followed us back to camp where Daryl was calling out to Merle, stating that they were having some squirrel for dinner.

I walked over to my brother, who was standing next to Jacqui and the other women as Shane called over for Daryl to slow down a bit so he could say something. I shifted the bow on my back a bit as I watched the scene, shaking my head a little at the women who were going to ask me something. I knew this was neither the time, nor place to be distracted since both Daryl and Shane had mean tempers to them, especially if they were provoked enough to lash out. Since Daryl was still rather riled up about his deer, I knew it wasn't going to take long for the guy to lash out again.

Daryl stopped walking as he turned to Shane, asking about and from the look on Shane's face, I knew the previous deputy was not going to handle the situation well. Shane rounded on Daryl, standing between the women and the man while stating that he had to talk to him about Merle. Shane then stated that there had been a problem in the city. Daryl looked around as the guys kind of made a circle around him, almost trapping him like an animal. I walked over to the side, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched the redneck a he started to circle around Shane. Our eyes caught each other's and I could see a conflicting emotion within them as the man asked if his brother was dead.

Shane took a moment before answering, saying that he wasn't sure if Merle was dead or not. This was the wrong answer as Daryl advanced towards the deputy a bit, stating that either Merle was dead or he wasn't. Before Shane could reply though, Rick stepped in and I watched as Shane's shoulders grew tenser as Daryl's attention switched towards the guy. Rick stated that he would explain what happened back in the city, but before he could, Daryl asked who Rick was. After Rick introduced himself, Daryl got a bit huffy as he tried to intimidate Rick.

I would give Rick credit though, he knew how to keep his head when facing people like the Dixon's, but I chalked that up as him being an officer of the law. Rick stated that Merle was a danger to everyone and that he cuffed the guy to the roof on a piece of metal and left him there. From the corner of my eye, I noticed T-Dog entering the campgrounds carrying some firewood, no doubt meant to be used that night. My attention was drawn back to Rick and Daryl as the latter took a few steps away from Rick, stating rather sarcastically, that he had to process what Rick told him before turning back on the officer and repeated what Rick told him. As he spoke though, I could tell that Daryl was going to blow a fuse he all but yelled that Rick had left his brother there.

Rick didn't so much as flinch at Daryl's tone as he confirmed what the redneck stated. Taking a few deep breaths through his nose, Daryl threw the squirrels that he caught at Rick before charging at the guy. Rick had dodged the squirrels, but before Daryl could get to him, Shane intercepted the redneck and body checked him away. In a tense stance, I watched as Daryl hit the ground, only to draw his hunting knife before rolling up to his feet once more. In the background I heard the sound of wood dropping onto the ground and caught T-Dog before he could get into the circle. Daryl struck out at Rick with the knife, but that was something expected as Rick dodged, only to grab hold of Daryl's arm, to which Daryl responded by trying to punch Rick with his free arm, only to put into a choke hold while Rick freed Daryl's knife from its owners hands.

I eyed the situation carefully as Shane took Daryl down. By the way Daryl was struggling; it was not going to end overly well for him as Daryl stated that chokeholds were illegal. Shane made the smartass comment that Daryl could file a complaint. Rick made his way over Shane and the redneck, crouching down a bit so he could talk to him. In a calm voice, Rick stated that he wanted a calm discussion with Daryl over what happened in the city. Letting my arm drop a bit, I took note of Shane's face, no doubt the deputy would rather have Daryl strangle to death instead of talking with him. Rick looked at Daryl a bit before nodding to Shane, who, instead of merely letting Daryl go, did a bit of a twist with his arm as he released his prisoner, causing the redneck to fall onto the ground, holding his arm up in front of Shane.

While Daryl got his breath back, Rick stated that what he did, he didn't do on a whim, but that his brother did not work or play well with others. Before I could stop him, T-Dog butted in, stating that it was his fault, that he had the key but dropped it. Daryl gave T-Dog a dirty look as he spat that T-Dog couldn't pick it up. T-Dog then explained that he had dropped it down a drain causing Daryl to snort a bit in disbelief as he looked towards the ground before getting back onto his feet. In a sarcastic voice, Daryl asked if what T-Dog told him, was meant to make him feel better and that it didn't. T-Dog took the sarcasm in stride as he stated that he locked the door to the roof so the geeks, another term for the undead, couldn't get at his brother, with a padlock. Rick then added in that it had to count for something, as Daryl looked between to the men with an almost sulky look on his face. Daryl didn't say anything for a moment as he pressed a hand to his face, before throwing it at us, saying that we could go to hell and to just tell him where his brother was so he could go get him.

From the slight crack in his voice, I could tell he was on the verge of doing something illogical as T-Dog looked away. Before anyone could reply, Lori stepped out of the RV, stating that Rick would show Daryl. Everyone turned to the woman, who was looking at her husband, who nodded his head while looking at everyone. Rick confirmed that he was going back, which enough of an answer to Daryl as he walked past the man to grab his crossbow. Rick and Shane shared a look with one another before Rick moved on to do something. Slowly everyone else dissipated from the spot, going back into their daily routines.


	7. Chapter 6

Since the drama was finished, everyone began to drift off and go about their days before it was disrupted. I went back to my tent and swapped my hunting satchel for my medical bag, which I secured around my waist along with my hunting knife which was strapped to my right thigh. I also pulled my hair back into a low ponytail so it wouldn't get in my way while in the city and made sure that I had extra knives strapped to my calves, under my jeans in case I needed them or someone else did. Exiting my tent, I walked over to Dale, who was working on the RV with Jim. Lightly tapping the hood, the two males looked over at me, no doubt curious as to why I was there. Yet the moment I met Dale's eyes, I could tell that he already understood the purpose of my visit.

"Hey Dale, can I ask you to look out for Ben?" I asked him softly as I casted a glance over at my brother who was skinning the squirrels nearby, "I'm going to go into town with Rick and Daryl, be a voice of reason so to speak as well as another pair of eyes." I stated and immediately felt someone attach their arms around my waist.

"You can't go!" my brother cried out, his arms tightening around me as I knelt down before him, "You just can't... what am I going to do if you're not here?" he asked in a whimper as he furiously rubbed his eyes so he wouldn't cry. Taking my brothers hands away from his face, I brought him closer to me in a tight hug.

"Sweetie, you're strong, not to mention you have a good aim and can help protect the others here." I cooed to him softly as I brushed his shaggy bangs away from his face, "I need you to stay here with Dale, Jim and Jacqui. I can't take you with me; otherwise I'll be too worried about your safety. If you're here, then I can rest easier knowing that you are protected and that you can protect others." I whispered before kissing his forehead.

"She's right son," Dale piped up with a knowing smile, "you need to stay here while your sister is out protecting the boys." He said, giving my brother a teasing wink, "How about you grab your bow and quiver and then you can help Jim and be on look out and help up fix up the RV? What do you say?" he offered and despite my brother's tears, he smiled a little before looking up at me once more.

"Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it sweetheart, just promise me that you'll listen to Dale and Jacqui while I'm gone okay? Just think of it as if I'm on a hunting trip by myself okay? And if you're good, I'll make your favorite honey mint tea and a special treat from our loot kay?" I offered and that seemed to cheer him up as he ran to our tent to grab his stuff. Turning to Dale, I gave him a grateful look, "Thank you Dale, this means a lot." I told him truthfully as the older man just nodded his head.

"You just be careful Jo, you and those boys. Make sure you come back safe and sound." He stated and I nodded my head and the two of us continue talking idly before Rick and Daryl left. My brother joined us moments later, resting his bow on the ground nearby so he could learn from Jim and Dale. I noticed that my brother was copying me, in wearing his quiver on his belt and from the way he grinned at me, I could tell he was doing it intentionally. The only thing that I did when I saw this was ruffle the kid's hair as I continued to talk with Dale.

Rick soon came out of his tent, after changing into the clothes he came in the day before, only to pause to speak with Shane. From the spot at the RV, I noticed Rick and Shane talking for a moment before Rick continue on walking before turning around for a moment to say something before turning back around. Shane didn't look too pleased as he jogged to catch up with Rick, I had a funny feeling that Shane was trying to convince Rick not to go and to just let Daryl find Merle by himself, probably in hopes that he wouldn't have to deal with either brother anymore. I frowned at the words Shane was using, as he tried to convince Rick not to risk his head for a douche bag like Merle Dixon. Shane didn't seem to care if everyone heard what he had to say and ignored Daryl as the redneck told the deputy to choose his words more carefully. In passing Shane stated that he had as he stopped in front of Rick, casting Daryl a look as he stated that Merle wouldn't give anyone a glass of water, even if they were dying of thirst.

Shaking my head a bit, I heard Rick state that it didn't matter what someone would or wouldn't do since it didn't interest him, he just couldn't help a man die to neither thirst nor exposure. Rick then went on to say that they had left Merle trapped like an animal and that was no way for anything to die, let alone a human being. I felt relieved at these words, for it meant that Rick still had a moral compass within him, despite the fact that we lived in a crazy world where most people had lost their moralities, like Shane had.

From the campfire, Lori spoke up saying that his big plan was only going to be him and Daryl going into the city. Rick sighed a bit before turning to Glenn, who gave a look of disbelief, not wanting to go back into the city again. Rick stated that Glenn knew the way, how to get in and out without a problem and that Glenn had stated that before. Rick then stated that it wasn't fair for him to ask this of Glenn, and that he knew that, but he admitted that he would feel a lot better having Glenn along before pointing over to Lori, stating that he knew that his wife would be too. Shane wasn't pleased as he spoke sarcastically, saying that he was now risking three men instead of two. T-Dog then stepped forward, saying four; this caused Daryl to scoff at the black man, muttering sarcastically that his day just kept getting better. T-Dog then stated if Daryl saw anyone else stepping up to save his brother's cracked ass, only to have ask him why him. The only thing T-Dog said was that Daryl wouldn't understand and that he guy didn't speak his language. Before anyone else could say anything else, I stepped forward into the group, stating that there would actually be five going.

"Yeah, you heard me, I'm heading out too." I stated as everyone turned to look at me in surprise, I felt the curious gaze of Daryl as he looked at my form and the glaring daggers of Shane as he tried to intimidate me.

"What's your reason Canuck?" Daryl spat out as I looked over at him with a slightly mocking, raised eyebrow. His bitterness wasn't amusing, but I didn't blame him for having it, since I would have been in the same state as him if it were my brother.

"Don't get all gooey eyed on me redneck; I have my own moral compass that drives me... 'sides; someone has to cover your guys asses out there." I cracked with a sarcastic remark before turning to Rick, "An extra pair of eyes will make things easier, as well as another calm head if things get rough, not to mention I can easily patch someone up." I added, slightly motioning to my medical kit strapped to my belt.


	8. Chapter 7

A look of calmness and gratitude made its way onto Rick's face as he nodded in acceptance. Daryl scowled a bit, but said nothing more as he finished cleaning his arrows. Dale looked around stating that, that was five, he was surprised at that how many were going. Shane took a few steps away from Rick before turning around, stating that it wasn't just five; he said that Rick was putting every single person at risk, stating that Rick knew that before bringing up the Walker from earlier that morning. Shane continued on saying that the Flesh-Dolls were moving out of the city and that the camp needed every able bodied person at camp to help protect the camp. Rick nodded a bit, but stated that what the camp really needed was more guns.

This brought a pause as Shane backed down a little as Glenn piped up, remembering about the bag of guns that Rick had to leave behind in the city. Apparently Rick had packed six shotguns, two high powered rifles and over a dozen handguns. These were guns that were in the station's cage that Rick had cleaned out before he left to head to Atlanta. When Shane asked about ammo, Rick stated that he had about 700 rounds, assorted. Shane took a deep breath, no doubt trying to grasp what Rick was saying. I let out a small whistle at the arsenal Rick had and looked over at my brother, who nodded his head.

When Lori spoke up, saying that Rick had gone through hell to find her and her son, and now he was leaving them again. I found it ironic since this was her idea in the first place when she said that her husband was going to show Daryl where Merle was. Carl stuttered a little as he told his father that he didn't want him to go, but something in his eyes told me that he had already accepted his father's decision. Rick had a pained look on his face as Lori continued on, saying that Shane was right and that Merle Dixon was not one of us and not worth the guns he left behind. I snorted at this as I knelt before my brother, pulling him to me in a hug.

"Be good for Dale and Jacqui, I know I already said this, but keep them and yourself safe. If you have to shoot, do it between the eyes." I whispered into his ear before lightly tapping the spot between his eyes, "I promise I'll make your favorite when we get back." I kissed his temple softly before standing up, nodding to Dale, who nodded back at me.

I headed over to the delivery truck, seeing Glenn taking the wheel with Daryl stalking in the back. Rolling my eyes a bit, I hauled myself into the back as well, making myself comfortable against the side, resting my bow over my shoulder as Daryl began ushering Glenn to turn the thing around. I couldn't help but smirk in amusement as Glenn did as Daryl said; no doubt the Asian man wanted nothing more than to leave without turning back. Daryl caught my amused look and scowled at me, his green eyes burrowing into my grey ones as I sat in a relaxed posture.

"Got something ya want ta say Canuck?" Daryl spat at me as Glenn turned the truck around so the exit was facing the camp. When I didn't answer him, he gritted his teeth as he paced in the back some more. From the look Glenn was giving me, he no doubt wished that I had said something.

Daryl was gripping the over bar in the back of the van as Glenn backed up. When I looked into the camp, I noticed Rick and T-Dog talking with Dale and Jim; no doubt they wanted to use Dale's bull cutters to cut off the padlock and the cuffs. As we waited, I pulled out one of my bows, taking a look at the tip of it, making sure that I had cleaned my arrows well enough that the arrow head was still sharp. Once I was satisfied with it, I replaced it in my quiver before steeling myself as Daryl raised his foot and basically pressed on the trucks horn, gathering everyone's attention as the redneck yelled at Rick and T-Dog to get moving so they could get moving.

"Easy there cowboy, you're going to blow your head off if you don't settle down." I stated blandly, looking over at a wincing Glenn from the corner of my eye, "the other two are just grabbing a tool to get to Merle." I said and watched as the redneck rounded on me, giving me a glare as he breathed heavily, something that he normally did when he was trying to control his anger.

"Don't you tell me what to do you fucking Canuck," he spat at me as he began to pace, "you don't know what's what n' ya don't have no place in coming to the city." He growled out as T-Dog and Rick finally arrived at the truck. As T-Dog got into the back with Daryl and me, I noticed Rick talking to Shane, probably wanting some ammo for his Python.

"Up yours, you filthy redneck, you don't get a say in what I do." I gritted out, giving Daryl a glare of my own, which he matched perfectly in irritation before letting out an annoyed huff and looked away from him as he let out another irritated grunt.

Looking into the camp, I saw Ben standing next to Jacqui, looking at me with worry in his eyes. I gave him a smile before raising my pinky up, showing him that my promise to return alive was serious. Smiling sadly, my brother held his pinky up as well, showing that he promised to be alive when I returned. Nodding my head at him, I pressed my hand to my heart and bowed my head a bit. I felt the curious glances from T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl at my behaviour, but I paid them no mind as I settled against the wall of the truck in a more comfortable position.

Rick looked back at the three of us and sighed a bit, knowing that this trip was going to be a tricky and made his way up front with Glenn. Seeing that we were ready to go, Daryl pulled down the back hatch while Glenn started the truck up and we finally set off to the city. The entire drive was settled in an uncomfortable silence with Daryl and T-Dog sitting across from one another behind the driver seats with me in between them. I had my eyes closed the entire way since it meant that I would have to look at either of the guys faces as they looked at each other almost in a hostile way. I was silently sulking where I sat, my knees drawn up to my chest so I could fit easily between the two males. I ended up resting my chin on top of my knees as I looked at the closed hatch of the truck, a well formed pout etched onto my face as my arms were wrapped against my legs. My bow was resting in front of me as I tried to think of a positive outcome.

"I call shotgun on the way back." I declared to the four men, all of whom rigidly tried to compose themselves before looking at me as if I was crazy, though I knew Glenn was keeping his eyes on the road, "I don't care who's driving or not, I'm not sitting back here between two guys like this." I stated firmly, my pout now quite noticeable to the guys next to me, "I feel as if I'm in some awkward, dirty threesome back here with these two yahoos glaring at each other..."


	9. Chapter 8

After my blunt statement about my situation, I heard Glenn take in a sharp intake as he tried to choke down his amusement. Rick on the other hand was staring at the back of my head as if he couldn't believe what I had just said. To my right, T-Dog couldn't help but let out an amused snort and chuckle as he shook his head at me. To my left, Daryl just let out a scoff as he sent a glare at me, though when I looked over at him from the corner of my eye, I saw some amusement in his eyes as he scowled.

It was a bad habit of mine to be blunt and a bit crude when I was in an awkward or difficult situation. Usually these types of comments came out of my mouth without me thinking about them, which typically shocked those around me. Those at the quarry grew used to the random comments I made, though they still had startled reactions whenever they came out.

"We'll see Jo..." was the only response I received from Rick, who seemed hesitant to respond to my blunt comment. Shifting a bit in my spot, I nodded my head silently before resting it back on top of my knees as silence enveloped the group again.

Minutes passed by the time we reached the city limits. I was dozing off since there was no conversation going on. I vaguely heard Daryl say something sarcastically to T-Dog before T-Dog retorted quietly. Since I hadn't been paying attention, I didn't catch what they were saying as I slowly blinked my eyes a bit to keep myself aware. I hardly heard Glenn as he stated that we were walking now once he parked the truck. I only started moving once my foot was kicked harshly and my senses were jolted as my head snapped up. The person facing me, with a scowl upon his face was Daryl; I wasn't paying attention to him as he grumbled to himself about a slowpoke getting them all killed.

"If ya don't get off yer ass Canuck, we're leavin' ya behind." He grumbled as I looked at him with furrowed brows. Outside of the truck, I could hear Rick, T-Dog and Glenn talking amongst the three of them as Daryl stood in front of me.

"Yeah, I hear you..." I mumbled as I grabbed my bow, but before I could stand up on my own, a roughen hand appeared in front of me. I didn't think much of it as I clasped the worn hand with my own, allowing Daryl to haul me onto my feet before rigidly letting go as if my touch burned him. Within seconds, Daryl was stomping out of the truck; the death-like grip on his crossbow told me that he was getting more frustrated by the minute.

"The Canuck's finally awake, let's go." Daryl growled out as I jumped from the back of the truck, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly while giving the others an apologetic look.

"Sorry 'bout that. I didn't realize I zoned out." I apologized, giving the guys a weak smile as I slung my bow onto my back again and adjusted both my quiver and medical sack before stretching my shoulders out, waiting for the guys to lead on, "Shall we then?"

"Don't worry about it Jo," Rick said, giving me a tense nod as he looked at the others, "let's go." He said and the five of us headed off in a light jog.

Glenn took the lean up front, followed by Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and then myself, taking up the rear as we followed the train tracks. We followed the tracks until we came to a bridge, there Glenn opened up the side of a chain fence, which had been cut, allowing us to get through. As we stepped over the side rail onto the abandoned street, Rick asked the group if we should head to the bag of guns to get Merle first. Daryl spoke without a second hesitation that we should get Merle first and that we shouldn't be having this conversation. Rick turned to Daryl, not amused as he stated that we were having the conversation as I pulled my bow from my back and locked an arrow to the string as the five of us began walking in a row. Somehow I ended up next to Daryl as Rick turned to Glenn, stating that it was Glenn's call since he knew the geography of the city.

Out of breath Glenn stated that Merle was closer to us and if we went for the guns that meant that we would have to double back, thus getting to Merle would be the wisest thing to do. Rolling my eyes a bit, I knew Glenn also said that so he wouldn't get an arrow in him from Daryl, who was getting antsy about getting his brother back. I heard Rick let out a breath of air as the five of us started jogging into the city once more. It was a long while to get to the department store; so far we were lucky and didn't cross any Flesh-Dolls. I noticed that T-Dog was lagging a bit and that he was clutching his side in pain, from the bruised ribs that he sported, but wouldn't let me bandage the day before. I ended up taking the rear again, sporting my bow in case any of the Flesh-Dolls came up behind us.

As the five of us quietly stalked through the department store, I could feel the hairs on my arms start to stand on end we carefully moved forwards, slowly spreading out so we would cover more grounds while keeping an eye on each other. Everyone paused for a moment when Rick raised his arm up, signalling us to stop. I looked over at Rick, wondering why he had stopped us when we noticed the Walker. Looking over at Daryl and I, Rick motioned for us to move forward. Casting each other a look, Daryl and I moved quietly, over to the dead, who had just been wondering aimlessly around.

"Damn..." I heard Daryl say quietly, "what an ugly skank."

The comment caused me to snort in mild amusement as Daryl shot the Walker between the eyes. Looking back at the others, I nodded my head while Daryl walked over to the corpse and pulled out the arrow he used and wiped the residue onto his pants. Rolling my eyes the five of us continued on our way where Daryl and I took down any stray Walkers with our arrows so we wouldn't bring attention to our group. I couldn't help but look around the department store, hoping for something to catch my eye, but with how picked over and destroyed it was, there was hardly anything left to pick out. As we continued onwards, I began getting a pit in my stomach as the five of us ran up the stairs towards the roof. Luckily, there were no other Walkers in our way and it was smooth sailing.

Once we reached the chained up door, Rick inspected it before moving out of the way, allowing T-Dog to break off the padlock. Impatient as always, Daryl didn't let anyone move out of the way after T-Dog removed the chain, and kicked the door wide open. He called for his brother as he charged forward with T-Dog right behind him. Rick followed behind and after sharing a look with Glenn, he and I followed behind. I had expected Merle to be cursing and yelling the moment T-Dog and Rick appeared on the roof, but instead it was bare except for the five of us.

Standing in between Rick and Glenn, I couldn't help but swear under my breath as Daryl began yelling out, it was actually painful to hear a guy like Daryl yell out in anguish, but I didn't blame him. I couldn't blame him for doing so. My hand tightened around my bow before resting it over my back again as I looked around, wondering where the hell Merle Dixon had gone off to and how he could have escaped the handcuffs in the first place. It was then that I noticed Dale's hacksaw, much darker than I had remembered it being. Pushing my way past the guys, missing the looks of confusion at my actions, I carefully walked over to the saw. Kneeling onto the roof, I picked up the hacksaw and as the light hit the blade, I realized why it looked so dark, it was covered in blood.

I took a deep intake of breath and cursed under my breath at the way the blood had been smeared across the blade. A few inches away laid a bloody, severed right hand. I almost felt sick to my stomach as I tried to image Merle lying or sitting here on the roof sawing off his hand, the pain in general would have been excruciating. Not to mention the fact that he would be bleeding heavily, just as the amount of spilt blood indicated. As I looked closer at the ground, I heard the others moving while Daryl paced a bit before doing something. Since I wasn't watching what was going on with the guys, I could only assume Daryl had aimed his crossbow at T-Dog, for I heard the cocking of a gun soon afterwards.

"I won't hesitate; I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it." Rick said in a deathly calm voice. It was after those words were spoke that I turned my head to see what was going on. In front of me, Daryl was holding his crossbow up at T-Dog, who didn't blink at the action. Rick however, had drawn his gun, cocked it and pressed the barrel right up against Daryl's temple.

The redneck however, was shaking and I knew it wasn't just because of Rick's words. He was a right down mess thanks to the knowledge that his brother was not there like the three said he would be. The moment Daryl stood down, T-Dog relaxed and Rick removed his gun. It was silent for a bit as the three men stared at each other. I merely rolled my eyes at their behavior as I stood up and looked at the blood trail that had been left. I could hear Daryl awkwardly ask T-Dog if he had a do-rag or something, no doubt wanting to wrap his brother's hand up. I heard the flapping of a cloth and looked over at the guys as Glenn slowly made his way onto the roof, looking at Daryl in an almost frightened way.

"I guess uh... the saw blade was too dull for the handcuff," Daryl spoke out loud as he picked up his brother's hand from the ground, the sound of sticky flesh being peeled of the bloody ground rubbed me the wrong way a bit as the redneck took a few deep breaths, "Aint that a bitch..." he muttered as he looked at the hand.

I squatted down next to Daryl to get a better look at the hand, noticing how torn the junction where the wrist would have been looked. Tilting my head a bit more, I narrowed my eyes slightly, only to see that the markings were rabid and hasty. They were not many hesitation marks that had been made, but the brutality of it all set my hairs on end.

"That would have taken him at least ten minutes to do if he didn't stop... an hour at most if he did..." I spoke quietly, causing the guys to look at me, but my eyes were trained on the hand, "Looks to be about seven or eight... maybe even nine hours old, judging by the amount of flies buzzing around it and the way the blood began to dry... though there should be more than just this..." I lightly pointing to the still moist pool of blood, "The pain would have been excruciating, not to mention the blood loss and the possible side effect of heat stroke would have done something to his head." I lightly tapped my head a little before shaking it, "But... Damn..." I stood up afterwards and shook my head once more.


	10. Chapter 9

I dusted off my dark jeans while pursing my lips as I thought. All of the knowledge I had as a doctor was pooling into my mind as I thought about the situation. There should have been more blood around the hand and the roof, but there were only snippets where the blood dropped. The only thing that would be able to save Merle from bleeding out and from affection would be if he cauterized the wound. My brow furrowed further at this notion as my eyes trailed back to the droplets of blood that was on the roof.

Daryl pointed out that Merle must have used something he had on his belt; otherwise there would have been more blood on the ground. I looked over at Daryl and the others and for the first time since the redneck returned from his hunt, he was calm. Picking up his crossbow, Daryl followed the blood trail and passed where I was standing, his eyes focused on the path before him. I waited for Rick and the others to catch up before falling in line. Daryl led us to an emergency exit and down some stairs, all the while keeping his crossbow up in case he needed to fire. I had taken my bow from my back and an arrow from my quiver as we traveled down the stairs.

Daryl called down to his brother, but no reply came back. Letting the silence get to him, Daryl began to speed up a bit and I narrowed my eyes as I followed. As we continued down the stairs, I couldn't help but wonder how the elder Dixon managed to get down here without passing out. As we walked, we ran into a few Walkers, but with Daryl and me silencing them with our arrows, we made quick work of clearing a path. We entered what looked to be the main office area of the building and the unmoving bodies of dead Walkers littered the place.

I let out a low whistle at Merle's handy work as Daryl commented about it not taking much for Merle to take the Walkers out one handed. The redneck then stated that if anyone fed his brother a hammer than the guy would crap out nails. Rick looked over, not amused, as did I before we both stated that any man could pass out due to blood loss, no matter how tough he was. To give Daryl some credit, he didn't reply to our statement as Rick took the lead. We followed the trail of bodies to one of the back rooms, where Daryl called out for his brother again. Rick wasn't appreciating Daryl's lack of stealth since we weren't alone in the building. The only reply the redneck gave was a 'screw that' remark before stating that Merle could be bleeding out.

We entered a kitchen area and the first thing I heard was the flicker of flames. The further in we went the more I realized that the son of a bitch had found a way to cauterize his wound. On top of the counter were several lit Sterno cans (cans filled with flammable liquid and a wick, usually used by restaurants to keep food was), Merle's belt, which had been saturated with blood. Rick walked over to a pile of iron based cooking tools and picked up an iron steak weight. I heard Glenn ask what the stuff on the weight was and Rick hesitantly replied that it was skin and that Merle and cauterized the wound.

"Jo, you seem to know about stuff like this," Rick called to me as he motioned me over with his head. Once I was at his side, I hooked my bow onto my back and placed the arrow back into my quiver before taking the steak weight from his hand, "what do you make of this?" he asked me as the others began to crowd around.

Using the light given by the window, I looked at the weight and at the burnt skin before lightly picking at it. Feeling how brittle the skin was and how discoloured it was starting to get, I had a vague idea of how long ago Merle had passed through here. I passed the weight back to Rick while I did the calculations in my head before I answered him.

"I have a rough estimate, but from the looks of things, Merle was here about four to six hours ago. It takes a while to heat up cast iron like this with these Sterno cans, about a good one or two hours. Once it's that's high, this weight is the perfect tool to use to cauterize a wound like Merle's." I explained before wincing slightly, "From the looks of it, he did it in short bursts. You can tell by the layered pieces of skin are." I pointed out, "It's a painful procedure though... just about as painful as sawing off your hand." I added with a little distaste.

"Told you he was tough," Daryl stated quietly as Rick put down the steak weight again, "nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

I rolled my eyes at Daryl as I looked through the cupboards for more Sterno cans. Rick told Daryl not to take it in good faith since Merle did lose a lot of blood. I motioned Glenn over when I found some and he hurriedly opened his pack, realizing why I called him over. The first thing that Glenn took out was a blue handkerchief, which no doubt held Merle's hand. I took the wrapped hand from the Asian man as he piled the cans into his bag before placing it on top of the pile once more. I had taken three of the Sterno cans for myself, so I could use them to heat up my needles to help sterilize them if I needed to use them.

"Jo," Rick said once I was standing again and I turned to the man, tilting my head a bit as he, Daryl and T-Dog looked at me a bit, "I'm just curious, but what exactly did you do before the world went south?" he asked and I couldn't help but give the boys a small smirk as I placed a hand against my medical bag.

"I thought that would at least be obvious by now," I mused. Nobody in the camp seemed to put two and two together about my previous life, except for Dale and Morales' and his family, "I was a doctor up at the mines and small towns, and I guess technically I still am a doctor, but the term healer seems to confuse people a lot." I told them simply with a shrug, "The only real difference is that you four now know that I have a degree in medicine instead of just believing that I learnt everything from my mother." I said evenly, not at all bothered by the look of surprise on their faces, "Don't look at me like that, I've treated all of you one time or another back at the quarry and none of you have ever asked if it was more than me learning from my mother."

With that, I went back to looking for clues on Merle's whereabouts or anything that I could use medically. In the end I found some unused honey, a few cinnamon sticks, some dried herb leaves, cloves and some ginseng root. Smiling to myself, I unhooked my medical bag and began sorting everything so I could make room for the new ingredients I found. I added the cinnamon sticks to the others that I had, as well as sorted the dried herb leaves into their proper groups before putting them together with the others that I had and added the cloves with the rest. I found room for the honey, Sterno cans and made sure to find a special place for the ginseng root before closing my medical bag. I was feeling quite happy about my find and knew it would probably be a while before I would be able to find such items again.

When I looked around to speak to the others, I noticed that they were no longer in the kitchen area. Hooking my sack back onto my belt, I walked out of the kitchen as Daryl's voice calling out at me to hurry up. I caught the four of them looking around a broken window, signalling that Merle had left the building entirely. Glenn looked as if he was ready to faint, while T-Dog looked rather disturbed at this new realization. When I looked over at Rick, I could see him thinking things through while Daryl merely looked amused about what his brother had done. As Daryl walked passed us, he said that Merle was doing what he had to do in order to survive. T-Dog spoke up, not at all comfortable with that thought as he questioned Daryl if what his brother truly was doing, was surviving without passing out before asking what Merle's chances were.

I looked over at Rick, seeing the same hesitance to accept what Daryl was saying, but kept quiet as Daryl rounded on T-Dog, stating that Merle had the same chance if he was cuffed and left to rot by the other three. I sat down with a sigh as both Glenn and T-Dog looked away from Daryl's statement as the redneck turned to Rick. To Rick, Daryl said in a restful tone that Rick couldn't kill his brother and instead cuffed him so he wouldn't have to worry about some dumb, dead bastard. Every time Rick took the shit Daryl tried to dish out with calmness, I was impressed and liked the guy even more. Rick retorted asking about a thousand dumb dead bastards and if it was a different story.

I watched tensely as Daryl's eyes narrowed as he stated that Rick should take a tally and do what he wanted to, and that he was going to go get his brother. At this, I stood up and made my way over to the two as Daryl tried to walk past Rick, only to have Rick push him back. Daryl shouted for Rick not to touch him and that Rick had no right to tell him what to do. Just before I could do anything to stop a fight from breaking out, Rick spoke up, saying that he understood Daryl and his motivation to find Merle. He stated that he had gone through hell just to find his own family. The look on Daryl's face surprised me as he curled his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing it slightly as Rick added that we would help him out, check a few blocks, but the catch was that they had to do it with a leveled head. The only response Daryl gave was that he could do that.

Rick then looked over at T-Dog as I walked over to Daryl, placing a hand on his shoulder to make sure he wasn't going to spring into redneck action. The moment my hand touched his shoulder, Daryl tensed up before looking at me before relaxing slightly causing me to nod a bit and remove my hand before turning to T-Dog also. T-Dog stated that he wasn't going to go outside looking for Merle without the guns that Rick had dropped, that was his only condition for looking for Merle out on the streets. It was a fair condition considering how many Walkers were actually in the city, I was a bit skeptical about not having more firearms as well since I knew between Daryl and I, our ammo would not last long if we couldn't retrieve our arrows again.


	11. Chapter 10

Once all of us were in an agreement the five of us sat down so we could discuss a plan. Glenn drew up a basic outline of the block in a permanent marker that he found on the floor. I was sitting on the floor against one of the abandoned desks, fiddling with one of my arrows as Glenn suggested that he went out by himself to get the bag of guns while the rest of us split into two groups to watch his back in case any Walkers were around. The plan was extremely flawed as I shook my head in disagreement. Rick was the first to voice that Glenn wasn't going to do it alone and Daryl immediately spoke up, saying that he thought it was a bad idea even though didn't like Glenn much. Glenn looked up at Rick stating that it was a good idea if we heard him out. Rolling my eyes, I looked at the Asian man, waiting for him to explain his idea.

"If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast." He stated as he placed a black clip onto the floor, "Look, that's the tank, five blocks from where we are now." He stated as he placed a crumpled piece of paper down next to the clip, "This is the bag of guns." He stated before pointing to an alleyway, "Here's the alley where I dragged you from where we first met, that's were Daryl, Jo and I will go." He stated looking over at us.

"Why me?" Daryl asked, no doubt surprised by Glenn's choice before casting a brief look over at me as I concentrated on the map, "And why the Canuck?" Glenn nodded over to Daryl's crossbow and the arrow in my hands.

"Cause your crossbow and Jo's hunting bow are quieter than his gun." The Asian stated as he nodded his head towards Rick. I shrugged my shoulders a bit, acknowledging the reason while Daryl opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again and set his lips into a thin line.

Glenn then took a sticky tab label and set them near the entrance of the alley, "While Daryl and Jo wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag." He stated as he looked over at Rick, who was looking at the floor with slightly furrowed brows.

"But you got us elsewhere." He stated as T-Dog looked over at Glenn as well. Glenn nodded at this as he went back to the makeshift map.

"You and T-Dog, right." He stated as he grabbed an eraser and placed it two blocks away from the tank. Rick looked confused at that and asked about it. Glenn shook his head a little as he looked back at Rick, "I may not be able to go back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Jo; I'll go forward instead, all the way around to the alley where you guys are." Glenn explained as he looked over at T-dog before continuing on, "No matter which direction I go, I got you guys covering me." Looking around, everyone gave Glenn a nod of understanding, "Afterwards, we'll all meet back here." He said as he looked over at Daryl and me. I gave Glenn a nod of my head, knowing that would be the safest thing to do.

"Hey kid, what did you do before all of this?" Daryl asked curiously. Glenn looked at Daryl, surprised by the question as he face grew serious.

"I delivered pizzas why?" He said looking over at the redneck in confusion and I couldn't help but crack a smile at that.

Looking over at Rick, I could tell he was a bit shock at the answer and looked over at Daryl and me to see our reactions. Daryl merely looked thoughtful and nodded his head while I merely shrugged my shoulders in amusement. Once everyone was clear on the game plan, we set out to our spots after promising that we would be safe before splitting off into our sections. Daryl and I followed Glenn over the roof tops before climbing down a set of emergency stairs into the alley near the tank. Once my feet touched the ground, I pulled my bow from my back and an arrow, notching it in place before looking around for any signs of Walkers before moving forward a bit so Daryl could jump down.

We followed Glenn quietly through the alley, towards the gate. There were a few Walkers lumbering around as we could hear their groans and growls easily from where we were. We paused behind a green garbage bin for a moment before following Glenn further to the street before stopping next to another green garbage bin. Here Daryl loaded up his crossbow while I crouched down next to bin, ready to shoot if I needed to.

"You got some balls for a Chinese man." Daryl stated, almost impressed, causing me to snort quietly as I looked back at the two. Glenn had a bit of an irritated look on his face as he stated that he was Korean, but that didn't actually matter to Daryl as Glenn ran off into the streets as the redneck too his place near me.

Once Glenn cleared the gate, I moved up a bit so I could keep an eye on him and heard Daryl come up behind me. He was closer than I expected him to be and could hear his ragged breath as he exhaled, not to mention the warmth his body gave off, despite the already warm temperatures outside. Forcing myself to ignore Daryl, I took a peak out of the fence as I watched Glenn manoeuvre down the street.

"You know, I never expected ya to actually be a damned doc." Daryl muttered to me, almost in a dismissive way as he watched out for any Walkers as well. His tone caused me to snort a bit as I casted him a semi-annoyed look.

"None of you guys ever asked. The only ones who did were Morales and Dale." I stated, "It's not something I speak of anyway, there'd be too much pressure if everyone knew that bit of information. Not to mention you guys would expect too much from me, when there isn't much that I can do." I added under my breath with narrowed eyes. Above me, Daryl gave a snort and I recognized this one as him showing a bit of amusement at my answer.

"That don't mean that, that lot still don't expect too much from ya." He replied, causing me to roll my eyes.

"It doesn't really matter though does it? I allowed them come to me when they needed advice on healing." I shrugged a little, "As long as no one tried to steal my supplies to try to use them for cooking I was fine with using what I had to, though I never used enough to run out of anything." I added softly as I tightened the grip on my bow a bit. Daryl didn't reply, just let out a bit of a hum as we waited for Glenn to either return to us or not. We went back to the spot between the two garbage bins and swatted down there, not bothering to talk anymore since there was nothing else for either of us to say.

It was quiet for a bit until the crunch of a foot caught our ears. Looking at each other, Daryl nodded his head as the two of us stood up, pointing our bows at the intruder. Turned out, the person trying to sneak up on us was a kid, sixteen at most who held up his hands in surprise, begging us not to shoot. I lowered my bow and cursed under my breath, until Daryl started advancing onto the kid, who asked him what he wanted. Looking over at the redneck, I couldn't but swear again mentally as he stated that he wanted to know about his brother. The kid looked between Daryl and I, and from the panicked and confused look in his eyes, I could tell that the kid didn't know anything about Merle.

"Daryl, he knows nothing." I stated as I tried grabbing the redneck's arm before he killed the kid. Daryl shrugged me off though, giving me the evil eye as he continued to advance on the kid. The kid let out a call for help as Daryl kept advancing and asked about Merle, "Damnit Daryl, calm the hell down. The kid knows nothing about Merle." I growled out, as I tried to get him to lower crossbow.

"Back of you snow infested bitch, this is of no concern to you!" Daryl yelled at me as he pushed me away with a hard shove, causing me to fall onto the ground before I could catch myself. My head slammed against the metal garbage bin, creating a gong like sound, which was surprisingly, not that loud. I swore from the pain as I tried to straighten out my vision as it had gone fuzzy on me thanks to the blow.

I think the kid started yelling out again before Daryl hit him, but I wasn't quite sure what was happening due to the ringing in my ears. I tried to get back onto my feet, which was proving difficult since my coordination seemed to be shot before I was finally able to support myself by using the garbage bin. Things went by fast as two guys came into the alley and pulled Daryl off the kid, before beating him. Glenn came in afterwards and looked at the scene fearfully before noticing me. He took in the way I was looking, but before he could ask anything, one of the guys noticed the bag of guns in Glenn's hands and called out.

A large bald headed guy turned around and started charging at Glenn who had turned around to run when the guy grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt. Pushed myself away from the garbage bin to try and save Glenn, only to have the second guy grab me, throwing me onto the ground and kicked me in the stomach. Before joining his friend who was kicking Glenn, who was now on the ground. I stood up at this and charged at them, jumping onto the back of the one who grabbed me and started pounding on his arms. The bald guy let out a yell suddenly and when I looked over at him, I noticed that he had one of Daryl's arrows in his ass. Before Daryl could shoot either of them again, I was thrown off the other guy's back, to which the bald guy grabbed me to use a shield, which the other one did the same to Glenn.

Glenn was calling out to Daryl to save him, while I was trying to save the two of us as the two guys backed us out of the alley way. I locked eyes with Daryl as I tried reaching a hand out to him, my eyes wide in worry as I heard my name leave the redneck's lips as Glenn and I were forced into a car, which drove off as soon as the doors were closed. The last thing I saw were a dozen Walkers heading towards Daryl as he yelled at the guys as we departed.


	12. Chapter 11

Sitting side by side, Glenn and I looked at each other cautiously while our captors cursed and bitched about what had gone down. I fiddled with my fingers as I realized that I had dropped my hunting bow in the alley after Daryl had shoved me and no doubt my quiver unlatched itself from my thigh from the fall and pressed my lips into a thin line. Sighing through my nose, I flexed my hand a bit before hesitantly touching the back of my head. Wincing in pain, I pressed further on, taking in the size of the lump I had, not to mention the split skin from when my head met metal and the sticky blood which now stained and knotted my hair. Pulling my hand back to my face, I couldn't help but scrunch my nose up at the amount of blood on my fingertips and silently cursed Daryl under my breath.

I noticed Glenn looking at my bloody fingers with wide eyes as he looked back at me, before quickly shifting his gaze to our captors before looking back at me, silently asking me if they were the ones who caused the wound. I shook my head at him and motioned with my chin to the bald man who now held Daryl's arrow in his hand while cursing still about the bastard who shot him with the arrow. Glenn looked at the arrow before turning back to me, his eyes wider in surprise and alarm. I shrugged a bit then and turned to the guy driving the car. He was looking in the rear-view mirror at Glenn and me, no doubt watching us as we communicated silently to one another.

"You two better be smart and listen to what we say, ya hear?" the driver spoke in a grumpy voice, "Otherwise me and my boys here won't be to kind with ya'll," he paused a bit as he eyed me in my black tank top, "even if one of you is a chick." He smirked as I scowled in disgust.

"The only way we'll co-operate with you boys is if you treat us like humans, not prisoners. This is no time to play war when one another."I stated, taking control of the situation, "Sound fair friend?" I asked almost menacingly as I raised an eyebrow, silently daring the driver to retort. Silence followed as the other guys in the car looked between Glenn and I, almost in hate as the driver nodded his head.

"Sounds fair chika," the driver said amused, "Where ya from girlie? I can't seem ta place your accent." He asked suddenly as I rested against the back seat.

"Canada." I replied shortly, "Now's not the time to get impressed, where are you taking us?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"To home base girlie, to home base." The driver said and the entire car lapsed into silence.

The moment we arrived at the base, I immediately recognized it as a nursing home. Glenn and I were pulled out of the car and escorted inside the building. Once we were inside, we were greeted by the rest of the gang, which had at least thirty people all together. The oldest of the gang and the one who I assumed to be the leader of the bunch introduced himself as Guillermo. I introduced Glenn and myself before asking him what they were doing inside a nursing home out of curiosity. Glenn looked over at me, about to say something when Guillermo motioned for us to follow him, seeing as Glenn and I weren't going to do anything.

"We're here to protect these people." Guillermo, or G as he was often referred to explained, "When the world went south, all the doctors and nurses left, they abandoned the elderly people here."

Glenn and I followed the man into the back, where the sight of over thirty elderly people were sitting in chairs or talking to one another. I felt my mouth go dry as I looked at the people beside Glenn; most of the elderly folks looked to be dead already with how pale they looked. Off to the side, I saw a dog bed with three Chihuahua's laying in them lazily, half dozing and half not bothering to move. I noticed Glenn taking a step back in surprise as I turned to him to say something, only to stop when a low whistle reached my ears.

"That's some wound you got missy." He mused as I turned back to him, frowning since I already knew it was bad, "Don't worry, Felipe will get that cleaned up for you." He stated with an easy going smile as he motioned for one of the men to step forward.

Looking towards the group of men that had followed us and I recognized one of the guys from the alley as he stepped away from the group towards the three of us. He motioned for me to follow him as he headed towards one of the empty rooms and I followed after giving Glenn a reassuring smile. Once I was away from the group, Guillermo began talking with Glenn as I closed the door to one of the rooms behind me. Silently, I sat down on the stood in front of Felipe, rotating the stool so my back was to him and took my hair out of the ponytail, slipping the hair tie around my wrist. With surprise gentleness, Felipe cleaned my head wound and disinfected it with some of the supplies they had in the home.

"How long have you been a nurse?" I asked the large man quietly as he patched me up. His hands had stilled for a moment as he contemplated how to answer, "I can tell by the way you're patching me up. Nurses who care tend to be gentle in their touch, not wanting to cause any more pain than their patients are already in." I spoke quietly as I played with my hands a little, "I'm a doctor and a trained healer..." I added quietly while letting myself trail off a bit.

"That's why you were poking your head earlier..." he spoke quietly while dabbing the wound, "I've been here for ten years or so." He told me before pausing a bit to look at my wound more closely, "We didn't give this to you did we?" he confirmed as I winced, remembering who had been the cause of my wound.

"No you guys weren't, it was the redneck with the crossbow I was with... I tried to stop him from putting an arrow into your now missing buddy..." I trailed off a bit before shrugging, "He got mad and took it out on me by shoving me away and causing me to crack my head on the side of one of those dumpsters..." I chuckled weakly at that.

Filipe didn't say anymore as he finished tending to my head, then the two of us went out into the main area where I saw Glenn helping some of the elderly people. Deciding to do my own share of work, and because I knew if I didn't at least try, I would feel like crap as a doctor and a person, I began helping around the home. I'm not sure how long Glenn and I were there at the home, but I couldn't help but feel at ease as I talked with the elderly and helping them out. I could tell that Glenn was feeling the same as he and I finally found a sense of the place. I was checking the heart rate of one of the elderly women when I saw Guillermo walking over to me with a serious look on his face. Noticing Glenn looking over at us, I shook my head at him as I stood up, resting the stethoscope around my neck.

"Is there a problem?" I asked slowly, furrowing my brows a bit look on his face.

"Your pals are here ta make a trade chika; we'll use you for the starter." He stated before nodding to two other guys who came on either side of me, tying my arms behind my back, "Let's go." He stated before turning around and I was forced to follow behind him since the other two guys, who names I didn't catch walked behind me.

When we came to back doors of the facility, I was kept in the shadows with the other two while Guillermo and his men opened the doors to step outside. In the courtyard, I was clearly able to see Rick, Daryl and the kid that got Glenn and I into this mess in the first place. I shifted a bit in my spot, noticing the tense stances that both Rick and Daryl were using. Rick and Guillermo exchanged a few words as the kid spoke what he went through. Filipe stormed out carrying a hand gun, which he had pointed at Daryl as he recalled about getting shot in the ass.

Their voices were too far away for me to hear them properly, but by the expressions on Rick and Daryl's faces, it was clear they were not impressed. I was soon pushed forward by the two guys behind me and I walked a bit closer, which allowed me to hear Guillermo state that they were fresh out of white boys, but that they had an Asian if they were interested.

"Oh and I also came across a pretty chika from Canada too. Easy on the eyes and all that." He stated and I watched with clenched teeth at what he was implying as both Daryl and Rick tensed. Yet, I noticed that Daryl's grip tightened around his crossbow at Guillermo's next words, "You interested in her?" he asked before motioning with one of his hands. I was soon brought out, into the courtyard as Guillermo looked at me behind him and gave me flirty smile until I was placed in between him and Filipe.

"Jo," Rick called over to me as I looked at him, "you okay?" he asked me and I nodded my head stiffly.

"No thanks to the redneck," I saw Daryl grit his teeth behind his scowl from the corner of my eye, "but I'm doing fine. Just like to get out of here and back to my brother if you don't mind." I told him honestly as I looked Rick in the eye. Rick merely nodded his head in understanding, which I returned.


	13. Chapter 12

Guillermo motioned again to the two guys who brought me out to take me back inside before anything else was spoken in front of me. I noticed Daryl getting ready to move forward, but I shook my head at the guy, finally making eye contact with him and hoped that he understood that he had to be calm and level headed in the situation. I saw him give me a short curt nod before I was taken inside once more and led back to the elderly. Once Guillermo's boys were gone, I sat down in one of the chairs with a sigh as Glenn came over to me, wanting to know what was going on. I told Glenn what I knew of the situation outside before telling him that all we could do was wait.

As we waited, the two same guys came in again and grabbed Glenn before I could stop them and shoved me away as they tied his hands behind his back and duct-taped his mouth shut before placing a bag over his head. When I asked them what they were doing, I got the answer of women being useless as a bargaining tool. Once they were gone, I couldn't help but curse under my breath as I ran a hand through my hair, wincing slightly as my fingers grazed my head wound. To distract myself, I busied with checking the health of the other elderly people. Minutes passed before Glenn was returned safely and I rushed over to him before he could faint and settled him onto the ground and leaning against a wall. His breathing was erratic and his face was pale from fight.

I ran over to one of the faucets and soaked one of my handkerchiefs in the cold water before rushing back to Glenn and gently patting his face to help cool him off and to help calm him down. I had to soak the handkerchief a few times before Glenn started to look normal again and I was finally able to relax as his breathing started to slow and even out. Once he was calm enough, Glenn told me what the guys did to him and how if he and I survived this, to remind him to never go sky diving. I couldn't help give him a weak laugh as I told him that I promised to remind of that and told him to rest. As Glenn rested, I was in one of the rooms, sorting out some their supplies when a panic rose on the floor.

One of the ladies, a kind old woman named Abuela, who was also the grandmother of Filipe, had left the main area to get her grandson while Glenn came running over to me, stating that a man began having trouble breathing. I ran out with him and knelt in front of the older man, known as Mr. Gilbert and gently ushered the other older folk away so I could listen to his lungs. I hear the tightness and knew what was happening.

"It's an asthma attack; does anyone know where his inhaler is?" I asked hurriedly, knowing that if the man didn't get his inhaler in time that he would end up dying from lack of air.

Luckily one of the elderly women knew where Mr. Gilbert kept his inhaler and I nodded to Glenn to get it as I focused on keeping Mr. Gilbert and the elderly people around him calm. This worked by affirming that I knew what I was doing and that Mr. Gilbert will be fine once Glenn came back with the inhaler. In a matter of minutes Glenn returned with a blue inhaler in hand and passed it over to me as I shook the device before uncapping it and held it up to Mr. Gilbert's mouth. He shook his head though, not wanting me to help and I nodded my head in understanding as I stepped over next to Glenn, handing the inhaler over to one of Guillermo's boys, telling them to give it to Filipe when he arrived. I let out a sigh as I packed my stethoscope back into my medical sack and wrapped my arms around my waist.

Once Filipe arrived, he was handed the inhaler so he could administrate it to his patient. Along with Filipe, Rick, T-Dog and Daryl also arrived in the room, looking at both Glenn and myself in surprise and disbelief, no bout wondering what the hell was going on.

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked quietly as he glanced over at Glenn and me.

"Asthma attack, he suddenly couldn't catch his breath." Glenn explained as he looked at Mr. Gilbert.

"We thought you two were being eaten by dog's man." T-Dog stated sourly as I cocked my head to the side a bit and looked behind us at the two Chihuahua's.

"You mean those dogs?" I asked nodding over to the three dogs who sat up a bit, and watched as the middle one barked at us, "Oh yeah, they're flesh eaters alright..." I said, dripping my words in sarcasm before snorting a bit and rolled my eyes. I saw Daryl scowl at me as he walked in my direction, grabbing my upper arm and dragged me off to the side of the room for a bit of privacy for whatever he wanted to say to me.

"How's... uh your head?" he asked in a bit of a mumble as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"It's been better, didn't help that you shoved me into the side of the dumpster though." I stated more heatedly than I planned on and winced at the words, "Not what I meant..." I said quietly as I rubbed my arm a bit and looked away. Daryl didn't say anything, only sighed a bit before I heard the movement of equipment and saw him holding two things out to me.

"Figured you'd want these back once we rescued ya..." he said, holding out my hunting bow and my quiver. I looked at him in surprise as I hesitantly took my weapons from him, feeling as if I had become complete again just by being reunited with my weapons, "Found em in the alley after these bastards took you and the Asian... Didn't realize I had shoved ya that hard..." he trailed off and shifted a bit where he stood and I realized that this was his way of apologizing without actually saying the words.

I couldn't help but smile a bit at this side of Daryl, since it was one side that I thought I'd never see and began placing my weapons back into their original spots, making sure this time that my quiver wouldn't fall off again like it did last time and secured my bow on my back. The weight of the bow relaxed me as I took a good look at Daryl, who was looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"Thank you Daryl." I told him softly I reached up and patted his cheek, much to his surprise, "I really do appreciate the fact that gathered them up after I lost them like that." I gave him a soft smile before patting his arm and nodded over to where Rick and the others were, "Let's go join the party again eh?" I mused as I headed over to the three guys with my hands stuck into my pockets. Before I could get too far though, Daryl grabbed my arm again, causing me to stop and look at him curiously as I tilted my head a bit.

"Was all that before, an act?" he asked almost cautiously as I stepped towards him a bit and slowly nodded his head. He let out a bit of a huff before running a hand through his hair, as if he was relieved by that.

"You okay there tough guy?" I asked curiously, wondering why he was acting so strange. As if realizing this, Daryl released my arm with a scowl, before sending a dirty look my way; returning back to his old self once more.

"Yeah, I'm fine Canuck." He scowled as he tightened the grip on the shotgun in his hand, "But if ya ever act like a stupid bitch again, I'll leave ya and yer weapons behind. Hear me?" he stated with an annoyed look on his face as I gave him a two finger salute and a mocking grin.

"Sir, yes sir." I mocked him, but couldn't help but smile at his awkward way of being concerned, "Come on, let's head over to the others tough guy, it looks like Rick has something he wants to discuss." I stated and walked over to Rick, who had been looking over at Daryl and me, no doubt curious about our discussion.

After having a talk with Guillermo, Rick motioned for the rest of us to follow them into one of the back rooms for further discussion. Once the six of us were separated from the rest, Rick asked Guillermo about the rest of the boys in the nursing home, after finding out that Filipe was a nurse and Guillermo was the custodian. As everyone got comfortable, I took the time to look over T-Dog's ribs and finally getting him to allow me to bind them for him so they would give him less trouble. Guillermo began explaining about the Vatos, their gang and how they trickle in to check on their parents and grandparents. When they see how things are, most had decided to stay and that it was good thing too since they needed the muscle. Guillermo also said that the people they encountered since things fell apart were the worst kind, plunderers who took stuff by force.

I looked up after tying a knot on the bandages around T-Dog's bandages and pressed my lips into a thin line as I nodded to T-Dog, letting him know that he was good to go. I walked over to one of the walls and leaned against it as I looked through one of the windows, knowing that a lot of people couldn't adapt to the world as it was now. It seemed that a lot of people had lost that ability to adapt to their surroundings and their situations, or if they did adapt, they lost a part of themselves to the new world.

Rick looked at our small group for a moment before turning to Guillermo and telling him that, that was not who we were. Though Guillermo just gave him a disbelieving look as he asked how he was supposed to know since his people got attacked and that they showed up with Miguel, the kid who got left behind, as a hostage. Guillermo looked over at T-Dog, Glenn, Daryl and I as he let out a bit of breath as he turned back to Rick saying appearances. T-Dog let out a little as he stated in a bland voice that the world must have changed. I looked over at T-Dog, pursing my lips together before shifting a bit at my spot as Guillermo started to speak again.

"No, it was the same as it ever was." He stated, "We can take it, so we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city, but most can't even go to the bathroom by themselves so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy and that's worth something." He paused a bit as he looked around the room we were in, motioning a bit to the windows, "So we bar up the windows, board up all the doors except for one entrance and the Vatos go out, scavenge what they can to help us out more. We watch the parameters night and day and we wait." He paused again as he out a sigh before motioning to the people out in the mess hall, "The people here, they all look to me now, I don't even know why."

I ran a hand through my hair, wincing once more as my fingers touched the wound and I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to swear. This action caught Daryl's attention since he had been leaning against the wall next to me and gave me a look that I ignored while Rick told Guillermo that the people looked up to him because they can. Those three simple words held an underline meaning to them, which both Rick and Guillermo could understand as Rick looked down at the gun he was carrying and handed it over to Guillermo, who took it. I saw Daryl tense up and ready speak out about Rick being an idiot, when I lightly grabbed his arm, stopping him as he shot me an irritated look. I only shook my head at him as Rick unzipped the bag of guns and took out a shotgun and a few pistols and ammo.

Guillermo thanked us and told us that if we needed a place that we would be welcomed there. After that, the five of us left the nursing home, making our way back to the truck so we could get back to the camp. As we left though, Rick handed me the Harrington & Richardson Pardner Pump Protector shotgun and I gripped it a bit before nodding my head as I carried it. It was silent while we walked and I couldn't help but notice that we spent too much time in the city since the sun was high in the sky, slowly heading towards the west to set. Nearing the truck Glenn looked over to Rick and stated jokingly that Rick only came for the hat; Rick took it in good strides as he said not to mention that to anybody. Daryl spoke up stating that Rick gave away half our ammo and guns, which Rick corrected him by stating that it was not nearly half.


	14. Chapter 13

We were all in an agreement and the five of us started on the long trek back to camp. It was decided to keep to the main road since it was less likely that we would get attacked by Walkers. As we made way to camp, the guys got into a discussion on how Merle could have taken the truck, but I didn't quite pay attention to them as I solely focused on getting back to the camp and getting back to my brother. We hit the tree line just as the sun began to set and all of us were feeling both drained and fueled by the need to get back to the camp. I was jogging between Daryl and Glenn, while Rick took the lead and T-Dog took the back. No matter how exhausted I was feeling, I knew I had to keep going for my brother was the most precious person that I had left in this new world.

The sun continued to set, paining the sky red like blood with flecks of blackened clouds scattered around. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I continued to grip the shotgun as if my life depended on it. By the time the sun had set and it was sky grew dark, we could hear the screams and yells from the camp. The five of us paused as the worst possibility came to mind and we all took off, faster than before while making sure the guns were loaded properly. When we finally did reach camp, we were greeted by the sight of Walkers, not Merle Dixon invading the camp. Getting to work, the five of us began shooting the Walkers from behind, noticing that everyone had been backed into a corner by the RV, all huddled together as Dale and Shane shot the Walkers.

Without much thought the five of us quickly advanced through the camp, shooting the Walkers without mercy and without a second glance. As we did so, Rick called out for his wife and child while I searched with my eyes for my brother. I saw him next to Dale and Jacqui, shooting the Walkers with his arrows while Dale and Shane continued shooting from their side. We split up, each taking a section of Walkers. I went through the middle, taking the Walkers out with the shotgun, determined to make sure my brother was safe. Once I ran out of bullets, I used the butt of the shotgun like a club until I was insight of my brother.

"Ben!" I yelled out fearfully as tears began seeping into my eyes. My brother looked over at me in surprise, his blue eyes were wide in fear as he and I ran towards each other.

"Jo!" My brother called as tears began falling down his face as we embraced one another tightly. I held my brother to me as if he was the last thing in the world and I cried with him.

"Oh god... I'm so happy you're safe." I couldn't help but sputter out as I started crying harder, "I'm so, so terribly sorry I wasn't here earlier..." I sniffed as began rocking my brother from side to side as he cried into my neck. I pressed him closer to me as I continued to hug him close, knowing that I could never go through such terror again like this, "I was so afraid of something happening to you..." I wept as I continuously kissed his temple and ran my fingers through his hair.

"I know Jo... I thought... I thought something happened to you in the city... I'm just glad you're here finally..." My brother's voice cracked as he continued to cry and I held him to me tighter. I just needed to hold my brother, I needed the reassurance that he was alive and well and that I was not in some kind of dream.

Everyone was shaking from the experience as I picked my brother up, just so I could have him closer to me and made my way slowly over to the rest of the group, taking my time as I gave my brother a squeeze of reassurance. My brother and were still a ways from the group when Daryl came over to us, seeing that were still in one piece. I tried wiping the tears from my eyes, but I knew he had already seen them as my brother turned towards the redneck and gave him a small smile, despite his tears.

"Thank you for looking after Jo in the city..." he told the redneck, much to Daryl's and my surprise before giving the redneck an awkward hug since I was still holding him. I saw Daryl stiffen from the contact even more so from the words my brother spoke to him. Daryl coughed a bit stepped back from the kid, only to ruffle his hair awkwardly and gave us a curt nod.

"Ya... no problem kid. Your sister's a right pain in the ass though." He stated before stalking off and I couldn't help but smile at the redneck and kissed my brother's temple again before setting him back on the ground.

Keeping my brother close, I wrapped an arm around him as we made our way over to the others as I assessed the damage done to the camp. I couldn't help but feel lost as I saw how many of our fellow campers were no longer with us. Hearing crying, my brother and I turned, along with the others to see Andrea kneeling over Amy, crying. Amy was covered in blood and looked to have passed on. I felt Ben burry his head into my stomach as fresh tears came to him and I held him closer to me, my body physically shaking at the sight. It was exactly how Ben and I found our own family... covered in blood... dead...

I had to blink back tears as Andrea continued crying over her baby sister and a chill went down my spine as I sniffed in sorrow. We had lost a lot of good people, not only good people, but people who had done a lot to survive. Now, they were a part of the dead and we would have to make sure that they stayed that way. At that moment though, no one could really move or do anything. It was a long night as everyone camped around each other; no one went into their tents till dawn broke. Some of us who couldn't sleep stayed up the rest of the night, unable to feel rest fully. In the end though, those of us who did not wish to sleep, were forced to get a few hours of shut eye.

As soon as dawn broke, everyone who had survived went through their tents, making sure that there were no other Walkers around and that nothing in our tents had been damaged. My brother and I were lucky, all of our important items had been in our jeep and even then, our tent and everything inside it had actually been left unscathed. I was helping the boys load up the dead into two piles; our people and the Walkers. Those who had been a part of the camp were dealt with before they could reanimate and were buried in the holes that Jim had dug the day before. Everyone else was burned.

All through the night, Andrea sat by her sister's side, just holding Amy's hand and looking at her. She had stopped crying on the outside, but on the inside I could tell that she was still weeping for her little sister. I was going around camp, looking for my brother's arrows so I could clean them for him, so he could use them later. I noticed Lori going over to the Andrea and spoke to her, no doubt trying to convince the woman to let us deal with Amy before she turned. I sighed a little to myself as I picked up another one of Ben's arrows from a Walker's head, frowning a bit to myself as I looked at all of the dead around camp. I still couldn't believe that we had made it in time... I couldn't even begin to imagine what would have happened if we had been late getting back. The thoughts chilled me to the bone and I forced the thoughts out of my mind as I continued on picking the arrows up.

Looking back at Andrea and Lori, I watched sadly as Lori walked away, giving up for the moment. I picked up the last of Ben's arrows and headed over to one of the fire pits, sitting down on one of the logs and began cleaning them methodically. Ben soon joined me after he packed up everything in the jeep and started helping me. I noticed that he too had his bow and quiver on him like I did and we sat in silence as we cleaned the arrows. Once I was finished, I took out one of my handkerchiefs and tied it around my neck so I could cover my mouth and nose when helping the others. I told my brother to find anything useful to pack within the camp and to not leave the area.

Before I helped, I noticed Rick going over to Andrea, no doubt to tell her that they needed to take care of Amy soon. I stood by and watched as Andrea pulled out her gun, aiming it at Rick, who just nodded his head and backed away slowly until Andrea put the gun down again. Shaking my head, I walked over to Andrea and swatted down on the other side of Amy and looked down at the girl. Andrea didn't say anything to me, nor did she pull the gun at me as we sat there quietly.

"I'm sorry Andrea..." I whispered to the woman softly as I looked down at her sister, "you must feel dead inside right now..." I trailed off a little as my fingers wrapped themselves around the three black leather cords around my neck, "It's hard to let your siblings go... to realize that you'll never see them again..."

"What's your point Jo?" Andrea asked me bitterly as she casted me an annoyed look, "Why are you here to tell me that I should let the others take my sister?" she asked harshly as I looked at her with a sad, but understanding look.

"No, I'm here to tell you that I understand the feeling... before Ben and I arrived here... I had to go through this same thing... my siblings... the other four siblings that I have... had..." I took an intake of breath as I forced myself to continue speaking, "I had to take them down... Ben and I... we saw our siblings when they were Walkers... we saw them as monsters and not our beloved siblings..." I swallowed the tears that threatened to spill over as I continued, "I just want to say, it's hard to take out your family, you'll never forget it... but it will be worse if you let someone else do it for you... that's all." I said quietly before standing up and dusting off my jeans, "Also, if you need someone to talk to, let me know." I added before walking off without another word.


	15. Chapter 14

I felt the eyes of everyone in camp follow me as I grabbed a pair of gloves and pulled my black handkerchief over my mouth as I began helping the others move the bodies silently. I heard Daryl try to convince Rick to make the shot, to put a bullet straight through the brain, or let him do it, only to have Lori tell them all to leave Andrea alone. Daryl sauntered off towards us, as I helped move the bodies of our people into the graves before burying them. Daryl was still pissed off about his brother as Glenn yelled at him to put our people into the pile of Daryl's pickup truck. Everyone was still tense and emotional from the night before, not that I blamed them, but this was not the time for arguments. Daryl snapped back stating that we all had to coming before walking away in a huff.

Letting out a sigh, I dropped the body of one of the Walkers next to the fire before rotating my shoulders a bit so I could find some strength to lift the heavy bastard and through him into the fire. Just I was picked the Walker up but his shoulders, I felt the weight being lifted from the feet. Looking up, I saw Daryl at the other end and without saying anything, he and I threw the Walker to the fire. I was just going to head over to the next body when Jacqui's voice rose over the camp as she called everyone that a Walker had gotten Jim and that he had been bit. Cursing at this, I followed everyone as they surrounded the guy and couldn't help but pity this mess. Daryl had his pickaxe ready to put through Jim's head while those with guns had them ready.

Daryl was the first in the group, besides Jacqui was demanded that Jim show us the wound. I was anxious about this since anything done by a Walker, could not be treated as far as we knew. As Daryl approached Jim, the mechanic stumbled back, only to turn around and a shovel as the rest circled around him. I tried to yell out that we weren't helping by surrounding him like this, but my words fell to deaf ears as the guys continued to demand that Jim showed us his wound. T-Dog managed to get behind Jim as Shane began demanding to see the wound and locked Jim's arms behind his back as Daryl and Glenn rushed over to him. Glenn grabbed Jim's legs while Daryl lifted up Jim's shirt, exposing the wound to everyone. The entire time, Jim whined that he was okay, but he wasn't.

As soon as the wound was seen, both T-Dog and Daryl let Jim go, giving him a look of disgust as they backed away. Rick ended up at my side as I stared at Jim in worry, that bite was deep and already infected. I looked over at Rick and shook my head sadly, already knowing what he was going to ask me. There was no way for me to fix Jim up so he could be as he was. He was now infected and there was no hope for his survival.

With Jim sitting by the RV, the rest of us gathered into a circle to discuss what we should do. Daryl was all for putting his pickaxe into Jim's head and Amy's just to get done with those two. I couldn't help but scowl at that idea since it was not only barbaric, but Jim was still human at the moment and Andrea had to deal with Amy herself. Shane seemed to have the same idea as he asked Daryl if that was what he wanted that if he was in Jim's place. Daryl didn't even hesitate as he said yes and that he knew why they had to do it. Dale was shaking his head as he said that he never expected to state that maybe Daryl was right. Rick spoke up then, stating that Jim was not a monster yet nor was he rabid dog that we should put down. Both Shane and Daryl tried to interrupt Rick, only to back off when Rick asked us where we drew the line of killing the still living. Lori was trying to keep everyone from yelling and I was already getting tired hearing the same thing over again. Daryl stated the line was pretty clear, zero tolerance for Walkers or the debate.

Rick then brought up the question of getting Jim help from the CDC, who were working on a cure in the city. Shane spoke up then stating that he had heard a lot of things when the world went to hell, but the way he spoke, it was as if he was being sarcastic. When Rick put out the idea that the CDC might still be up and running, Shane almost laughed as he stated rather blandly that, that idea was a stretch. When asked why by Rick, but Shane was not willing to go into the city thinking it was a lost cause and stated that we should go to Fort Benning, which was a hundred miles in the other direction, but safer. Rick disagreed, stating that the Fort was no doubt overrun just like Atlanta was.

All of this talk and arguing was giving me a headache as I pressed two fingers against my temple to try and massage the dull ache I was getting. As I tuned Rick and Shane out as they argued, I casted my eyes over at Jim, who was looking back of us, no doubt able to hear what was being said about him and our situation. I noticed T-Dog and Daryl looking over at him and that Daryl was getting antsy with the pickaxe in his hand as he gripped it and tested its weight. I frowned at this, for the look on Daryl's face told me that he was either thinking too hard or that he was going to take things into his own hands. Without really thinking, I reached behind me and allowed my fingers to trace over my father's old Jericho 941, which I had grabbed from my Jeep and stuck in the back of my pants in case I needed to use it.

The moment I saw Daryl heading towards Jim, readying his pickaxe, I ran in front of the redneck, crossing my arms above my head to intercept the blow that would come. Just before Daryl could swing, though he did seem to falter a bit seeing me, Rick came up behind Daryl, his gun cocked and ready to fire as he held it up against the redneck's head. I couldn't help but mentally muse that this was a familiar site.

"We don't kill the living." Rick stated in a warning tone as I pressed my lips into a thin line just as Shane arrived at a slower pace as he conveniently stood behind me as Daryl turned towards Rick, irritated.

"That's funny; coming from the man putting a gun to my head." He stated blandly as Shane spoke up from behind me, stating that he and Rick may disagree on some things, but not when it came to killing a living person. Shane then told Daryl to put the pickaxe down as I scowled at the man, sending him a glare while my body tensed up. Daryl looked as if he wanted to swing at Shane, not that I blamed him, for I wished to throttle the ass behind me, who was now ogling mine. Daryl gripped the pickaxe a bit before throwing it onto the ground; his jaw was set tightly as he looked over at Shane with a harsh glare.

"Next time be a man and stand in front of the woman when she's being stupid 'n not using her as a fucking shield." He growled out before walking away without a word. I felt my shoulders lax a bit as I swiftly turned around, giving Shane my own glare while my hands curled into fists.

"He's right. Next time have some balls to stand in the line of fire... pussy." I spat before walking away myself.

In order to keep myself from snapping at anyone, I secluded myself from the rest by heading down to the quarry. I told Dale before I left, telling him that I needed some time to cool off before heading out, making sure to take my bow and quiver with me in case I ran into anything. Once I was at the water's edge, I sat down on the rocky beach and just stared out, onto the open water, watching as the waves gently lapped at the shore. I sighed quietly while wrapping my arms around my pulled up knees, wondering what I should do with my brother. I knew we would no longer be staying at the quarry, not after last night, but I didn't know if Ben and I should stay with the group. There was a lot of tension between Rick and Shane, not to mention that Andrea would now be unstable with her sister gone and the weight that came with taking her undead life to boot. I ran a hand through my hair before looking up at the sky. I don't know how long I just sat there, entranced by the moving sky and water, the only thing I did know though, was that my lips and voice started moving on their own.

"Mom... Dad... sometimes I wish you two were here..." I whispered to no one as I rested my head on top of my knees, "I feel so confused now... I don't know what exactly we should be doing..." I sighed a bit before chewing the inside of my lip slightly, "I know I need to keep Ben safe... but how am I supposed to do that while trying to keep everyone else from killing each other?" I asked, not expecting an answer, "For once... I'm lost... for once in my life I don't know what the right this to do is... if you guys are listening... could maybe... I dunno... give me some sort of sign or something?" I felt a lump of tears begin to rise up as I choked back a quiet sob, "Please... just... tell me what I need to do? Or at least tell me if there's a reason why we found this camp..."


End file.
